The Prime Minister of Spain orders 10,000 soldiers and police to attack Valencia

Spain’s prime minister has ordered an additional 5,000 soldiers and 5,000 police and civil guards to the Valencia region as residents criticize local authorities for their response to the flood disaster.

The death toll on Saturday rose to 211 people, with most of the dead in and around Valencia, announced Pedro Sánchez. The population is expected to increase continuously.

Heavy rains that started on Monday caused floods that destroyed bridges and covered cities in mud, cutting off communities and leaving them without water, food and electricity.

Sánchez said the deployment of emergency services and the military was the largest in peacetime Spain, in response to one of the worst floods in Europe this century.

The prime minister said he was aware that “the response given is inadequate” and acknowledged “big problems and shortcomings”.

He said there are still desperate people looking for their relatives.

Weather warnings remain in place for north-east and south Spain until Sunday, with another issued for the Balearic Islands on Saturday.

About 1,700 soldiers are already involved in search and rescue operations in the Valencia region, although hopes of finding more survivors are fading.

Another focus is on draining water from tunnels and car parks, where it is feared that people will be trapped when the water enters.

Paco Polit, a journalist from Valencia, told the BBC that the new troops will bring much-needed heavy equipment, bulldozers, trucks, and help improve the speed and coordination of rescue efforts.

Sánchez said that some areas “still suffer from a lack of basic services”.

“We know that aid takes time to reach certain areas, there are still garages and houses that are closed and people are still trapped,” he said.

He vowed and asserted that the groups will work hard until help reaches everyone and people are back to normal, and he asked for national unity..

Authorities have restored electricity to more than 90% of homes, and restored nearly half of downed telephone lines, he added.

The government also authorized 100 temporary civil servants to assist in the distribution of financial aid.

Local authorities have faced criticism for the speed of the response and the lack of warnings before the floods.

Amparo Andres, who has owned his shop in Valencia for 40 years, told the BBC that at one point the water in the building reached his neck and he believed he was going to die.

“At least I’m alive, but I lost everything. My business, my home,” she said.

“And the government doesn’t do anything. It’s only the young people who help us.”

After returning to his home, local resident Juan Pérez said: “All my memories in my life.”

“My parents lived there. And now overnight, it’s all gone.”

The civil protection agency, directed by the regional government, issued an emergency warning to the phones of people in the city of Valencia and its surroundings after 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, at which time the floodwaters were rushing. increase in many areas and in others the damage has already been reduced.

Juan González, who lives in the town of Aldaia, said that the area is prone to floods.

“It is annoying that our local government has not done anything about this, knowing that this is coming,” he said.

In the devastated town of Paiporta, where more than 60 people have been reported dead so far, residents expressed their frustration that help is coming so slowly.

“There are not enough firefighters, the shovels haven’t arrived yet,” Paco Clemente, 33, a pharmacist, told AFP while helping to remove the mud from his friend’s house.

The federal government in Madrid is also facing criticism for not mobilizing troops sooner than it did and rejecting an offer from the French government to send 200 firefighters to help with search and rescue efforts.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has vowed to do whatever it takes to help those affected by the disaster.

Volunteer clean-up efforts in Valencia – organized mainly by young people on social media – have seen large columns of people marching towards the areas most affected by the floods.

On Friday, local authorities said traffic will be restricted in the Valencia city area between 00:00 local time on Saturday and 23:59 on Sunday.

The head of the infrastructure area Martínez Mus said that this step was taken to ensure that emergency workers can use the roads freely and ensure the supply of water, power, communications and food distribution.

In response to the looting, Sánchez said he would double the number of police officers and national police on the streets, after more than 80 people were arrested.

Another resident of Aldaia told AFP that he saw thieves taking things from an abandoned shop because “people are in need”.

Areas in the south – including Huelva and Cartaya – were also hit by heavy rains, and hundreds of families in the city of Jerez had to be evacuated from their homes.

One of the reasons why the floods are so severe is the lack of rain during the season, which has left the soil in many areas in the east and south unable to absorb rainwater well.

The region of Chiva near Valencia saw as much rain in an eight-hour period on Tuesday as it usually sees all year, according to the state weather agency Aemet.

Hot weather may have contributed to the severity of the floods.

In the first report, the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international team of scientists investigating the role of global warming in extreme weather, estimated that the rain was 12% heavier than it would have been, and that such weather has doubled. it is possible.

Additional reporting by Mallory Moench