Torrential rain has pounded eastern Spain, triggering severe flooding that forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate or stay indoors, while officials confirmed four deaths, according to announcements Monday.
The downpour from Storm Adam, which began Saturday, dumped as much as 700 liters of rain per square meter in 24 hours in some areas of the Valencia region. Floodwaters isolated numerous towns along the Mediterranean coast, rivers burst their banks and streets turned into torrents, recalling the catastrophic floods that killed more than 230 people in the Valencia region two years ago.
Four dead
The storm has been confirmed to have killed four people: two at the coastal resort of Oliva, one at Sagunto beach and one who fell into a swollen stream in Catalonia.
Hundreds rescued
By Monday morning, 800,000 residents were under stay-at-home orders, but by late afternoon that number had fallen to 87,000 across eight municipalities. According to government representative Pilar Bernabe, security forces carried out more than 400 rescue operations in the Valencia region.
People trapped on rooftops were brought down safely by cable amid widespread evacuations. The storm also hit the Balearic Islands and Catalonia, prompting authorities to order residents of about 100 municipalities to stay indoors for several hours on Monday. Regional authorities said most restrictions were lifted by early afternoon as weather conditions improved.
"It's a disaster"
In Els Poblets, northeast of Alicante, cars and trucks were piled on top of each other by the force of the water, while residents tried to salvage what was left of their homes.
"The village, well, it's a disaster. Some people have lost everything again, just like in 2007 when the same thing happened," resident Javier Fornez said.
More than 2,000 people have been evacuated, mainly in Oliva, and authorities carried out nearly 100 rescues in Valencia and Alicante on Monday, according to the Civil Guard.
Pego Mayor Enrique Moll told regional radio station A Punt on Monday that some people were still waiting to be evacuated from rooftops by helicopter, and every road into the town was blocked.
Oliva Deputy Mayor Salvador Llopis told state broadcaster TVE on Monday that emergency crews were rescuing trapped residents, especially elderly people stuck in their homes with water up to their waists.
The national weather agency AEMET announced Friday that last month was the hottest September ever recorded on mainland Spain, after registering the hottest summer from June to August.
