Society

Tuesday night's extremely violent storms in Spain killed many people. The storms also disfigured cities, roads and villages. Rescuers are still searching for missing people in a country shocked and in mourning.

We have rarely seen such a natural disaster in Europe. The south and east of Spain suffered surging waves that swept away everything in their path, following torrential rains. The village of Chiva, in the hinterland of Valencia, suffered apocalyptic rainfall: 491 liters of water per m² in 8 hours. That is a year's worth of rain in a single evening. It's in the region of Valencia that the damage is the most significant and where the vast majority of victims are.

The army mobilized

The toll (still provisional) of the flood reports at least 95 people killed, including children and babies. Rescuers are working hard to reach villages cut off from the rest of the world and find missing people. Many are still not responding to calls. Thousands of rescuers and volunteers are being helped by a thousand soldiers and 1,500 members of the police force. All necessary resources are being deployed, including helicopters. The European Union and many countries are also ready to provide assistance in terms of human and material resources.

National mourning

Faced with the scale of the chaos and the trauma experienced by all Spaniards, the government has declared three days of national mourning starting this Thursday, October 31, 2024. Schools and public entities are closed. The road and rail networks are badly affected. TGV trains are also at a standstill for several days. Flights to and from Valencia airport are gradually resuming. In order to support victims and rescuers, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has planned to visit the affected regions. Since Tuesday, the cataclysm has also deprived 155,000 people of electricity.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Sources: Le Soir & RTBF with AFP – Picture: © picture alliance / Anadolu | Pablo Morano)