Floods in Spain: 155 dead in the Valencia region, economic center

• The eastern province of Valencia was hit by intense, historic rainfall.
• At least 155 people have died in flash floods in the region, local emergency services said.
• The region is a large part of the Spanish economy, with a significant automotive and manufacturing industry.

Historic, deadly flash floods in eastern Spain have roiled the region since Tuesday.

The floods, caused by heavy rainfall, have killed at least 155 people in Valencia province, regional emergency services said saidciting a preliminary death toll.

There was still a yellow storm warning in the province of Valencia on Thursday said.

Although heavy autumn rainfall is common in the region – part of a phenomenon known as ‘cold drops’ – this was extreme.

This is reported by the Spanish State Meteorology Department DeskIt was a historic storm in the province, the worst of the 21st century and more intense than anything since 1987.

It said that Tuesday was the worst day of the storm, but that bad weather would continue all week.

Images and videos from the region showed brown water flowing through fields, blocking roads and hitting some built-up areas.

The floods did not appear to severely affect Valencia, the regional hub and Spain’s third largest city.

At Pastisseria Soler, a bakery south of Valencia, the owner described the flood damage as “terrible” in a telephone conversation.

The person, who declined to reveal her identity, told Business Insider that a nearby river flooded and reached their street within 10 minutes. Power outages forced all their supplies to be thrown away, she said.

Insurers are still dealing with the costs of the disaster; an early estimate put this easily in the billions of euros.

Per a briefing from the Spanish governmentthe main industry in Valencia is car production. Chemicals, manufacturing, agri-food and IT were also mentioned.

It was not immediately clear whether certain industries or businesses were hit hard by the floods.

Cristina del Rey, communications director for Ford Spain, told BI that her company’s factory in Valencia had not suffered any direct damage from the flooding, but would be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.

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At one press conference On Thursday, Spain’s transport minister said it would take three weeks to repair the damaged railway line linking Valencia with Madrid, the Spanish capital.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke on Tuesday said he was closely following reports of missing people and damage caused by the storm and that all emergency services were being dispatched in response to the storm.

The preliminary death toll from the floods makes the disaster one of the most serious natural disasters in recent years in Western Europe, but not among the worst.

More than 200 people were killed in the widespread flooding in July 2021 that hit Belgium, Germany and surrounding countries. Overall, extreme weather in Europe between 1980 and 2023 has resulted in economic asset losses estimated at over $800 billion. European Environment Agency.

According to one report According to the Aon Spain Foundation, a private non-profit foundation dedicated to preventing and assisting natural disasters in Spain, the annual cost of natural disasters in Spain, including floods, was estimated at approximately $940 million to $2.5 billion between 2016 and 2021.

In an X after On Wednesday, Valencia’s mayor said the province is facing one of the “most difficult and painful” moments in its history.

In one address On Thursday, Sánchez said that all emergency services dispatched are working around the clock to find missing people and bodies of victims and ensure that all residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible.

He urged all residents to stay home as the storm continues.

“Right now the most important thing is to protect as many lives as possible and guarantee as many lives as possible in this dramatic, tragic crisis that we are experiencing,” he said.

The government has declared three days of national mourning, from Thursday to Saturday.