OVIEDO (Spain), Nov 3 – At least 211 bodies have been recovered so far in what Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Saturday “the biggest natural disaster in Spain’s recent history.”
An intense storm system triggered devastating floods on Tuesday, hitting the province of Valencia the hardest.
Anadolu Agency reported that on Saturday, Sanchez acknowledged that some areas remain isolated, with homes and garages still blocked and dozens of people still missing.
“I am aware that the response is not enough. I know there are severe problems: basic services collapsed, municipalities covered in mud, people desperately seeking their loved ones, … we need to do better,” he said in a televised speech from Madrid.
Announcing that an additional 5,000 military personnel would be deployed by Sunday, Sanchez said this is the largest peacetime military deployment in the nation’s history.
The government is also deploying a large ship with housing units and medical facilities to the port of Valencia. It has already sent mobile morgues, humanitarian aid convoys, and personnel to restore basic services such as roads, electricity, and water.
Around 10,000 national police officers will also be stationed in the area by Sunday.
According to Sanchez, state forces have rescued 4,800 people and assisted more than 30,000 in their homes.
“But the magnitude of the catastrophe renders these numbers insufficient. Help is taking a long time to reach where it is needed,” he added.
Meanwhile, thousands of volunteers have poured into the affected areas in recent days, bringing food, water, and shovels to help clear the mud. On Friday, the regional president of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, even controversially asked volunteers to go home because of their sheer numbers.
On Saturday, the regional government banned most travel around the affected region by car and set up a center to organise the thousands of volunteers, according to Anadolu Agency.
For many of those affected, the shock of the floods has given way to anger.
The main criticisms focus on why the regional government waited until the flooding was already severe to issue an emergency alert to phones and why it is taking so long for aid to reach areas only kilometres from Valencia, one of Spain’s largest cities.
Amid widespread destruction, public frustration is mounting, with many criticising local authorities for delayed emergency alerts and aid to nearby areas.
