Valencia Declared A 'Disaster Zone' As Spanish Flash Floods Leave More Than 150 Dead

Weather warnings are in force across swathes of Spain as further storms approach on the heels of devastating flooding, which has claimed at least 158 lives – making it the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory.

- ANDY GREGORY

Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has warned that the devastation caused by flash flooding is “not finished” as he declared Valencia a “disaster zone” yesterday. Urging residents to remain in their homes, he said: “Right now the most important thing is to safeguard as many lives as possible.”

Cities such as Valencia and Malaga were inundated this week after nearly a year’s worth of rain – close to half a metre – fell in just eight hours in some areas, leaving residents “trapped like rats” in homes and cars, as described by one desperate local mayor recalling the chaos.

As volunteers engage in a huge clean-up effort after the floods swept away bridges and deposited cars and other debris in piled heaps on streets thick with mud, Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente said rescue workers were facing the task of recovering bodies believed to still be trapped in vehicles.