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AT least 51 are dead after catastrophic flash floods hit Spain with videos showing roads becoming rapid and fears a dam might burst.
Rescuers are now desperately trying to find survivors after the downpour left some regions, including popular Brit holiday resorts, underwater.
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The flooding has caused havoc, running from the provinces of Malaga in the south to Valencia in the east.
Tragically, a baby is now one of the 51 confirmed dead by officials on Wednesday morning.
Dozens more are feared dead as flood water which first hit around 1pm Tuesday caused rivers to burst their banks, entered homes, and swamped cars.
The President of the Valencia region Carlos Mazon said: “There are bodies and bodies continuing to appear in places we hadn’t been able to access before.”
In one small area on the outskirts of Valencia city, 40 people are either dead or missing, police sources have said.
Two council workers are said to be missing after a river burst its banks and two are feared dead after becoming trapped in a flooded basement in their police station.
In Massannassa, on Valencia’s outskirts, a man died after getting trapped in a lift as he went down to a flooded underground car park beneath his apartment to check on his vehicle.
Around 600 people were trapped in the Bonaire mall, Valencia’s largest shopping centre last night, after ground-floor flooding.
There are fears the Cirat-Vallat dam could burst with officials putting out a warning after they couldn’t open the gates.
Soon after the announcement local media reported operators were able to open two of the three floodgates.
Videos shared by Spanish broadcasters showed floodwater rising into the lower levels of homes and even carrying cars through the street.
Drivers also posted videos showing the horrific conditions on the roads, with many abandoning their vehicles as the water rose.
A taxi driver called Paco was hit by a wall of water with “brutal” force while driving on the outskirts of Valencia city.
He said: “We were heading along a road leading to the CV-36 motorway and as we got to a roundabout before we reached it, we saw people warning us to turn round.
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“We turned back but in a question of seconds a massive amount of water appeared.
“It was impossible to get out of the car. A torrent of water smashed my taxi against barriers at the side of the road and I couldn’t move.
“We spent three hours on top of the lorry trailer before the water levels started to descend and we could reach safety.”
Ricardo Gabaldn, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE his town was “trapped like rats”.
He said: “Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets.
“The water was rising to three meters.”
Emergency services workers backed by drones were looking through buildings as they sought to find trapped residents.
In some places, rescue services used helicopters to lift people from houses and cars to safety.
The entire province of Valencia – which has a resident population of nearly 5.5 million – were told they should avoid any travel yesterday evening through emergency mobile warnings.
Schools, sports events, and other public facilities like parks are all closed on Wednesday.
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Over 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units were deployed to the devastated areas.
The adverse weather is amongst some of the most extreme the country has faced in recent years.
A high-speed train with 276 passengers derailed in the southern region of Andalusia, although no one was injured.
Flights were delayed and diverted from Valencia airport at first, with it eventually being closed lat last night.
Meanwhile, Letur’s mayor Sergio Marin described the situation as “catastrophic” as firefighters and police on the ground and in a helicopter searched for four people said to be “unaccounted for.”
Marin told Spanish TV: “We couldn’t have predicted anything like this was going to happen. It’s a major catastrophe.
“Emergency responders including a police helicopter are still searching for around four people who we haven’t been able to account for in the flood area.
“Some were in a vehicle and others were in their homes. There’s been a lot of damage but we’re just hoping everyone is okay and there are no personal casualties.”
Elsewhere, in the Spanish city of Almería cars have been destroyed by giant golf ball-sized hailstones that fell from the sky as a violent storm passed over last night.
Why was Spain hit by flooding?
Spain was hit by flash floods after the east of the country was hit by a meteorological phenomena known as a ‘DANA’.
A DANA, or a ‘cold drop’ is technically a system where there is an isolated depression in the atmosphere is at high levels.
In layman’s terms, more warm and moist Mediterranean air than usual was sucked high into the atmosphere after a cold system hit the country from the south.
The easterly wind then pushed all those clouds and rain into eastern Spain.
Three to four months of rain fell in some places over the space of 24 hours.
The DANA system hit southern Spain as it arrived from Morocco yesterday and is now expected to head west over southern Portugal.
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Ethan Singh
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