“Our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the more than 50 deceased. Strength, courage and all the necessary support for all those affected,” reads a publication from the Royal House of Spain.
Follow our liveblog about the floods in Spain here
The head of state of Spain, King Felipe VI, said this Wednesday that he was devastated by the consequences of the bad weather in the east of the country and guaranteed “all the necessary support” to those affected and relatives of the 52 confirmed deaths.
Bad weather in Spain. At least 51 dead due to floods in Valencia
“Devastated by the latest news about DANA,” wrote the Royal House of Spain in social network Using the acronym for “isolated depression at high levels”, the meteorological phenomenon that hit eastern Spain last night and early morning, especially the region of the Valencian Community, where the authorities At least 62 deaths have already been confirmed. The King wrote the tweet when the first official balance showed 52 deaths.
Devastated by the latest news about DANA. Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of more than 50 deceased.
Strength, courage and all the necessary support for all those affected.
Our closest message and recognition to the local authorities and…
— House of HM the King (@CasaReal) October 30, 2024
It was also confirmed the death of another person in the neighboring autonomous community of Castilla La Mancthere is.
“Our deepest condolences to the families and relatives of the more than 50 dead. Strength, courage and all the necessary support for all those affected,” reads the same publication, in which the Royal Family also expresses its recognition to the local and regional authorities and all the emergency services, Armed Forces and State security forces. “for the titanic work” they are doing on the ground.
The images of the Valencian Community that are broadcast on television and on social networks show flooded towns, roads, streets and fields, cars swept away by water and trapped on highways and people on roofs or trees waiting to be rescued.
The last night, The rainfall in the Valencian Community was the highest in 24 hours since September 11, 1966according to official data.
The Government of Spain created a crisis commission to monitor the effects of the storm and more than a thousand soldiers from a special emergency unit were sent to the field.
The Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, told reporters in Madrid this Wednesday that the region of In the last few hours, Valencia has experienced “an unprecedented phenomenon”.
According to the emergency service of the Valencian Community, Around 200 people were rescued overnight in various locations.But military and civil protection teams on the ground were still unable to access several affected areas early in the morning, due to flooded and destroyed roads or affected infrastructure.
In statements to journalists, the coordinator of the emergency teams, José Miguel Basset, said that with the dawn and the reinforcement of resources, rescues began to be able to begin with aerial means and that early in the morning there were hundreds of people. People trapped, for example, in sections of two highways, in a situation that he considered “very complicated.”
In addition to the affected infrastructure, there are also several areas without communications or electricity, said José Miguel Basset.
Several regions of Spain have been under the influence of a “isolated depression at high levels”meteorological phenomenon known as DANA, which caused torrential rains and incidents in various parts of the country, especially on the Mediterranean coast.
The most affected region was the Valencian Community, in the east of the country, with unprecedented levels of rain, which caused the most serious alerts and warnings from Civil Protection and Meteorology on Tuesday night.
Source: Observadora