The death toll continues to rise to 158 in southeastern Spain after the deadly flood that took place last Tuesday and Wednesday with the most affected areas being mostly the area of Valencia and then also Chiva and Malaga. The severe storm is considered as one of Europe’s worst storms in the last five decades!
One of the worst storms during the last decades: still dozens of people are missing with the death toll continuously rising. This severe event brought 200-350mm of rain locally in a few southeastern areas of Spain with the most affected areas Valencia, Chiva and Malaga. In just a few hours a year’s worth of rain fell with Chiva (a city near Valencia) reaching 320mm of rain. To understand better, imagine that the Valencia area averages 70-80 mm the month of October. The Magro river arrived in the city on Tuesday, bringing water flooding the streets. The force of the water was so strong that it destroyed the bridge, bending some of its concrete pillars like they were twigs.The rescue teams are still searching for people who lost their lives in houses or inside their cars. Many houses are without water and electricity and are searching for food and medicines.
Other deadly floods in Europe during the recent years are in 2021 when at least 185 people died in heavy flooding in Germany, in 1970 in Romania where 209 people lost their lives and in Portugal in 1967 around 500 people lost their lives.