Heavy rain in Barcelona, ​​Spain during search for flood victims in Valencia | Flood news

Warnings have been issued in the Barcelona area as the same storm system that caused devastating flooding in Valencia hovers over Spain.

The recurring storms in eastern Spain that caused massive flooding and killed at least 217 people last week, mainly near Valencia, have dumped rain on Barcelona, ​​prompting authorities to suspend commuter rail services.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said on Monday that he had suspended all commuter trains in northeastern Catalonia, a region of 8 million inhabitants, at the request of civil protection officials.

Authorities in Barcelona warned of “extreme and persistent rainfall” on the southern edge of the city, urging people to avoid normally dry gorges or canals.

Puente said the rain forced air traffic controllers to change the course of 15 flights at Barcelona airport, located on the city’s southern flank. Several highways are also closed.

Classes in Tarragona, a city in southern Catalonia about halfway between Barcelona and Valencia, were canceled after a red alert was issued for rain.

Meanwhile, in Valencia, searches continued for bodies in homes and thousands of wrecked cars scattered in the streets, on highways and in canals that channeled last week’s floods into populated areas.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said authorities were still unable to provide a reliable estimate of the missing persons. Spanish national television RTVE broadcast pleas for help from several desperate people whose loved ones are missing.

In the municipality of Aldaia, about fifty soldiers, police and firefighters, some wearing wetsuits, searched the underground parking garage of a large shopping center for possible victims. Police spokesman Ricardo Gutierrez told reporters that about 50 vehicles have been found so far and no bodies have been discovered there.

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego said some districts in Valencia received about 20 months of rain in about eight hours. She said in many places residents were forced to clean the streets themselves.

“Today (Monday) you see more presence of vigilantes, of military personnel, who are helping with this,” she said from Chiva, a town just west of Valencia. “But when we were here a few days ago, we saw that most of the work was being done by the community itself.”

The military sent about 5,000 soldiers this weekend to help distribute food and water, clear streets and protect against looters. Another 2,500 would join them, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told state radio RNE on Monday.

Locals criticized late warnings from authorities about the dangers of the storm and a perceived delayed response from emergency services.

On Sunday, some Paiporta residents threw mud and insults at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, chanting: “Murderers, murderers!” Some people protesting against Sánchez wore clothing with the symbols of far-right organizations.

Climate scientists and meteorologists said the direct cause of the flooding was a low-pressure storm system migrating from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream that was likely fueled by a record-hot Mediterranean Sea. That system simply parked itself over the region and caused a deluge.