The Spanish authorities, in their latest report yesterday Sunday, announced that at least 217 people lost their lives in the floods, 213 in the Valencia region alone, three in Castilla-la-Mancha, where yesterday morning the lifeless body of a seventy-year-old woman was found missing since Tuesday and one in Andalusia (photo, top, by Reuters/Susana Vera).
Among the victims of these floods are two Chinese citizens, according to the Chinese embassy in Madrid. Two others are reported as missing.
"They were asking for help and there was nothing we could do. This is driving you crazy"
Authorities know the toll is expected to rise. "There are still flooded ground floors, warehouses, basements, parking areas that need to be cleaned and it is expected that people dead are in these areas," warned Transport Minister Oscar Puente.
According to the minister, the tally changed a little in the last 48 hours, because the rescue services initially explored "the most accessible areas", which are "on the surface".
At the Vatican, Pope Francis said yesterday "let us pray for Valencia and the other people in Spain who are suffering so much at this time".
The scenes of near-riots that took place in Paiporta can be explained by the fact that on the ground the population remains faced with a dramatic situation, with infrastructure damaged or out of order and piles of cars and debris on the road.
"The End of the World"
"It's like the end of the world," Elena Dana Daniela, owner of a restaurant-bar in the city of Chiva, told AFP.
She, still in shock five days after the bad weather, says the people who were trapped "were asking for help and there was nothing we could do. This is driving you crazy. We're looking for answers and we can't find them."
As rain began to fall in Valencia this evening and the sky became increasingly cloudy, and heavier, Catalan authorities have taken the precautionary decision to restrict traffic and close schools in several locations in the south.
Source: in.gr