Three days after the devastation caused by Dana in the Valencia region, the search for missing persons continues, the number of which remains uncertain, while the confirmed victims are 158. The emergency is still critical: around 366,000 residents in about twenty municipalities do not have access to drinking water and 50,000 people are without electricity. The burst pipes due to the flooding have prevented the cleaning of the mud, which has now dried in some areas. To deal with the situation, another 500 soldiers will join the more than 1,200 already present today to assist in managing the emergency, while the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, is about to visit the affected area. The main objective is to provide essential goods such as water, food and medicine to the affected populations.
The Valencian Community will be without rail links to Madrid and part of Catalonia for at least two weeks due to the damage to the railway infrastructure. In addition, 150 roads have been affected and several sections of the A7 motorway are closed, creating long queues of vehicles stopped on the side of the road. So far, the authorities have identified 15 of the recovered victims in a temporary morgue set up in a parking lot; a second morgue has been prepared at the Valencia Fair to handle the remaining bodies.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles said many people could still be in basements or garages trying to save their vehicles. She also noted the presence of stacked cars and vehicles in which there could be people trapped, without providing a precise number of missing people. Robles expressed her closeness to the families of the victims and praised the work of the military operating in the area.
There are currently no Italian citizens among the identified victims; the Italian embassy in Spain has activated a task force at the general consulate in Barcelona to manage any emergencies and reports regarding missing persons.
Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said more than 80km of roads had been damaged and that the priority was to restore the A7 motorway. He confirmed that work to repair the road network had already begun and that it would take two to three weeks to restore rail services between Madrid and Valencia, while regional trains could take months to fully return to operation. At the moment, it is not possible to implement an alternative mobility plan until the roads are cleared of debris.
Shovels and buckets to remove the mud, carts full of empty bottles and what remains of unlooted shops, children in pushchairs and elderly people in wheelchairs: a large number of people are fleeing among destroyed cars and felled trees, in search of drinking water and food.
The death toll from the floods that hit Spain continues to rise. According to the latest official estimates, at least 158 people have been confirmed dead, while the number of missing remains uncertain and is estimated at “dozens” according to authorities.