Spanish floods' rising misery as death toll climbs to 158 amid search for more bodies

Rescue teams are continuing to search for more bodies following , as officials announced have claimed at least 158 lives.

Water rose as high as almost 10ft after some areas suffered a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours, devastating areas of Valencia and other parts of the south. has visited areas of devastation, as one horrified survivor Miguel Guerrilla said: "We all know someone who has died. It's a nightmare".

Mr Guerrilla was speaking outside the pharmacy he owns in the town of Paiporta, where 62 deaths have been recorded so far. Maribel Albalat, who is the mayor of the community of 25,000 next to Valencia city, said: "(Paiporta) never has floods, we never have this kind of problem. And we found a lot of elderly people in the town centre.

READ MORE:

"There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages ... it was a real trap."

Welder Luis Sanchez was one of the lucky ones when the storm turned the V-31 highway, south of Valencia city, into a floating graveyard strewn with hundreds of vehicles. He said: "I saw bodies floating past.

“I called out but nothing. I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying all over, they were trapped."

The tragedy, described as “like a tsunami”, has been attributed to climate change by many experts, amid fears it may be the first of a new wave across Europe, including Britain. A 71-year-old Brit who died was among thousands who are in the region.

Among those who survived was Karen Loftus, 62, who described how she and her husband Steve had a “brush with death” after being caught up in the emergency while driving on the AP-7 motorway towards Alicante. Mrs Loftus said the next thing she saw was a bridge being swept away and within minutes “the water had risen up and started to come into the car”.

Describing their terror, she recalled how she and her husband couldn’t open their car doors as the pressure of the water was so strong. They were left with no option but to desperately clamber out of the windows before being rescued by a hero lorry driver.

Mrs Loftus, from Dorset, said: “There were moments where I thought ‘we could die here’. If we hadn’t have got out of the car when we did, literally two minutes later, we would not have been able to get out... it was really, really scary. Just after we got out of the car, another car floated on top of our car.”

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez met with regional officials and emergency services in Valencia yesterday on what was the first of three official days of mourning. He said: "Right now the most important thing is to save as many lives as possible.

"Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so we can help end the suffering of their families."

However, Spain’s Defence Minister, Margarita Robles, admitted the number of missing people is “the big unknown at the moment”.

Asked if she believes the death toll could yet rise further, she confessed: “I’m not optimistic”.

Public anger is growing over how a developed European country appeared to fail to warn many communities of the flood danger in time. Questions have been asked over whether disaster management services issued warnings too late.

The civil protection agency, deployed during national disasters, did not issue an alert until 8.15pm on Tuesday night local time, by which time several places in Valencia had already been flooded. Thousands of locals remain without power and Spanish police arrested 39 people overnight as part of a crime prevention operation aimed at stopping looters in commercial parts of flood-hit areas of the city.

Valencia’s upcoming match against Real Madrid was postponed by football bosses, who announced a minute’s silence will be held at all matches this weekend in a show of solidarity with the victims and their families.

The yesterday visited some of the worst hit areas, including neighbourhoods around Valencia, where we found almost apocalyptic scenes. Cars lay abandoned, including many tossed on top of each other like toys.

Steel shutters, usually impenetrable to attack, remain wedged half-open and distorted in shape. Trees can be seen felled and debris of all kinds, including thick mud, remains on roads and pavements.

British citizen Pawel Grochola, 51, summed up the mood of many around the bridge and further afield. The dad-of-two, who moved to Valencia two years ago after living in Staines, west London, for 18 years, said: “I think this is directly linked to climate change.

“Something needs to be done about it or more incidents like this will happen.”

Despite the gloom, the fightback has already begun, with more than 1,000 soldiers joining the emergency services to help with the clean-up operation. Residents, including some armed with brooms and shovels, are also pitching in.

Among them is British builder Michael Gill, who is operating an emergency call-out service for ex-pats. He began receiving calls for help almost immediately after the disaster and was yesterday out helping customers, including many elderly residents.

He said: “We’re doing an emergency call-out service for any English people that don’t speak Spanish very well. We’ll come and help them out with their storm damage or flooding.

“It’s devastating for everyone in this area. People are still in shock and despair, but we’re doing what we can to help. It’s non-stop at the moment.”