Flooding Kills More Than 200 in Spain
Deadly flash floods wreaked havoc in Southern and Eastern Spain (Flickr).
Devastating flash floods struck Eastern Spain on October 29, killing over 200 people in and around the Valencia region, per the Associated Press. More than 20 people are still reported missing. Experts say that the recent floods are the deadliest natural disaster that Spain has seen in a century, and older citizens who witnessed the deadly floods in 1957 assert that the most recent floods were “three times as bad.”
A second round of floods in Northeastern regions of Spain arrived on November 8, extensively damaging vehicles and infrastructure, though the BBC says that no casualties have been reported. In fact, the president of Spain’s Association of Insurance Companies asserted that they are dealing with “the biggest payout for a weather-related event that Spain has ever suffered” after receiving thousands of claims for home and vehicular damages, according to the Associated Press. Al Jazeera reports that it took only 15 minutes for a drainage canal to overflow, flooding the adjacent homes. The aftermath in the most affected neighborhoods was disastrous, and even the homes that were not completely destroyed by the storm suffered serious water damage on their ground levels.
According to the BBC, the weather event was designated a “Dana” weather system. Dana events are caused when an area of low pressure in a jet stream becomes trapped over one area, leading to destructive rainfall. Warm air from the Mediterranean mingling with cold air in the upper atmosphere intensified the October 29 storm. The Associated Press reports that meteorologists and climate scientists say that human-induced climate change may have contributed to the severity of the flooding, and that the Mediterranean Sea’s unusually high temperatures also likely played a role. The sea’s surface level reached record temperatures in mid-August, peaking at 28.47 degrees Celsius.
The Associated Press writes that crisis management officials have deployed 15,000 soldiers and officers to the affected areas to distribute relief aid and search for missing individuals, but volunteers are also playing a key role in cleaning up the most heavily affected areas. The government, especially the Valencian regional government, has faced intense criticism for their lack of preparation for the flooding and their subsequent response. Officials failed to send out flood warnings until the flooding had already begun in some areas, leaving people’s homes and cars unprepared for potential damage and putting countless lives at risk. According to Al Jazeera, angry citizens pelted the Spanish king and prime minister with “clumps of mud” when they visited the affected region.
Only about two weeks after the flooding incidents, the Eastern and Southern regions of the country are bracing for new disastrous weather events on the horizon. The regions of Valencia, Catalonia, and Andalusia are the most at risk and have been put on “orange alert,” which indicates a “degree of danger for normal activities,” says BBC. Citizens have been told to avoid ravines, waterways, and other areas susceptible to flooding. As these catastrophic weather events become more common, especially in Europe, governments have no choice but to reevaluate how they prepare for and prevent natural disasters.