Spain floods death toll rises to 158 as rescuers search for survivors

At least 155 deaths recorded in the eastern region of Valencia, two in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

The death toll from Spain’s worst floods in decades has soared to 158, emergency services and officials say, as rescue services work frantically to find survivors.

The body coordinating rescue work in the eastern region of Valencia announced on Thursday that 155 bodies had been recovered there. Officials in Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain reported two deaths, and Andalusia in the south announced one.

The widespread damage resembled the aftermath of a hurricane or tsunami. Cars were piled on top of one another like fallen dominoes. Uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items were all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognisable.

Local authorities have not disclosed how many people are still unaccounted, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the final national death toll could be much greater.

Opposition politicians accused the central government in Madrid of acting too slowly to warn residents and send in rescue teams, prompting the Ministry of Interior to say regional authorities were responsible for civil protection measures.

Valencia Mayor Maria Jose Catala told reporters that a local policeman was among the eight dead found drowned in a garage in the suburb of La Torre. In the same neighbourhood, she added, a 45-year-old woman was also found dead in her home.

“Those people wouldn’t have died if they had been warned in time,” Laura Villaescusa, a neighbour and manager of a local supermarket, told the Reuters news agency.

Residents gather in the street next to a pile of cars after flooding in the town of Massanassa in the region of Valencia in eastern Spain [Jose Jordan/AFP]

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego, reporting from Valencia, said many residents told her they received weather alerts only after the floods.

“[They said] that they received no information, that they eventually did get alerts but those alerts sounded on their phones after the flood occurred,” she said.

“There’s a sense of frustration, fear as well, and a sense that no one was coming to help them. Entire neighbourhoods have been completely cut off from the rest of the city.”

Regional authorities said late on Wednesday that it seemed no one was left stranded on rooftops or in cars in need of rescue after helicopters had saved about 70 people.

“Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so we can help end the suffering of their families,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said after meeting with regional officials and emergency services in Valencia on Thursday, the first of three official days of mourning.

Heavy rains continued on Thursday farther north as the Spanish weather agency issued a red alert for several counties in Castellon in the eastern Valencia region and for Tarragona in Catalonia. An orange alert was issued for Cadiz in the southwest.

“This storm front is still with us,” the prime minister said. “Stay home and heed the official recommendation and you will help save lives.”

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Al Jazeera and news agencies