MADRID (AP) — Catastrophic torrential rains that overflowed rivers and normally dry canals in eastern Spain last week caused flash floods that inundated entire communities and killed dozens of people.
The flood left a landscape of devastation, especially in Valencia, the hardest-hit region. The search for the dead and missing continues more than a week after the Oct. 29 floods — as does a massive cleanup and recovery effort.
Here’s a look at Spain’s deadliest natural disaster of the century, in numbers:
At least 219 people are dead and 93 missing
The historic floods caused 219 deaths, 211 of which were in the Valencia region alone. Another seven people died in neighboring Castilla La Mancha and another in southern Andalusia.
Ninety-three people have been officially declared missing, but authorities admit the actual number could be higher. Another 54 bodies remain unidentified. A total of 36,605 people have been rescued, according to authorities.
The cost of the damage runs into billions
The full extent of the damage is unknown, but the Spanish Consortium for Insurance Compensation, a public-private entity that pays insurance claims for extreme risks such as flooding, estimates it will spend at least 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) on compensation.
The consortium has received 116,000 insurance claims for flood damage, of which 60% were for cars and 31% for homes. The Spanish Association of Insurance Companies expects the flood to break an all-time record for payouts.
The Ministry of Transport has so far repaired 232 kilometers of road and rail lines, but the high-speed line between Valencia and Madrid is still demolished.
The central government has approved an aid package of 10.6 billion euros for families, companies and town halls. The Valencia regional government is also asking Madrid for 31 billion euros in aid.
Record rainfall caused the disaster
The drought that has hit the country over the past two years and record high temperatures have contributed to worsening flooding, scientists say.
Spain’s meteorological agency says 80.5 centimeters fell in one hour in the Valencian city of Turis, a national record for rainfall set on October 29. The devastated village of Chiva also received more rain in eight hours than the city had ever experienced. the previous 20 months.
The storms swept across the Magro, Turia and Poyo Canal rivers, turning them into swift currents that swept away everything in their path. To the human eye, it appeared as if a tsunami-like wave of water and mud cut a swathe through the southern outskirts of the city of Valencia.
The European Space Agency said that according to satellite images captured on October 31, the water covered an area of 15,633 hectares (38,600 acres). About 190,000 people were directly affected, the agency said.
In total, at least one resident died in the floods in 78 municipalities.
More than 17,000 troops and police, and an army of volunteers
The emergency operation mobilized by the central authorities has grown to more than 17,000 troops and police officers.
The operation involves 8,000 soldiers – 2,100 of whom belong to military emergency units specialized in disaster response – along with 9,200 additional police officers from other parts of Spain.
Thousands of ordinary citizens have volunteered, without a final estimate of exactly how many, and have helped with the cleanup efforts since day one.
The government said that in the first week after the floods, authorities restored electricity to 147,000 homes and distributed about 178,000 bottles of water in places where there was still no drinking water.
What we still don’t know
Spanish authorities have yet to say how many calls about missing people they have received, provide an estimate of material damage or release a calculation of how much land has been destroyed.
And at this point, it’s anyone’s guess when recovery efforts will be completed.
___ Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.
