Almost 2,000 reported missing in Valencia amid Spain flood disaster as frantic families hunt for relatives
ALMOST 2,000 people have been reported missing in Valencia after flooding hammered Spain earlier this week.
Families are frantically trying to find their loved ones as time runs out and the region’s hospitals teeter on the “verge of collapse”.
Officials say 205 people have died, but they believe the total will climb much higher.
Many bodies could be found in cars on secondary roads that have not yet been searched.
Thousands of sodden, abandoned cars covered in brown sludge litter roads around Valencia after the flooding turned them to rivers.
Of those dead, 202 have been found in Valencia, with rain also hitting other parts of the country including Andalusia and the Balearic Islands.
Yellow and orange warnings remain in place for parts of the Valencia region and Catalonia through the weekend.
A telephone number has been set up for locals to call in and register missing relatives with 1,900 already registered, el Diario reports.
On Thursday, 600 people who were registered as missing were found.
Officials are now going through the grim process of identifying the bodies – with a team of 100 forensic experts only solving 17 so far.
Search and rescue workers are going car-to-car as many people are thought to have drowned inside their motors as they returned from work when the flash floods hit.
The mayor of Chiva warned Thursday there were still “hundreds of cars turned upside down and they will surely have people inside them”.
Others were killed because they went down to move their cars, worried about flooding.
One survivor told the Telecinco TV channel: “There are almost certainly more people who have died because the water washed people away who had got out of their cars.”
Thousands of volunteers are travelling from the area to help with the cleanup and continue the search for bodies.
With some roads closed, huge queues of people are forming as they march into the disaster areas with brooms and shovels.
Soldiers are also on hand, with 500 more joining on Friday with the Defence Minister pledging the entire army could be used to help.
Psychologists have also been sent by the government to help the survivors deal with the trauma of the event.
A whopping 64 people have now been arrested for looting, with five men accused of robbing a flooded jewellery store, according to El Pais.
Around 15,000 homes remain without electricity and railway services between Valencia and Barcelona have reopened.
As bodies are identified stories are emerging about who they were, including a 71-year-old Brit who died in hospital.
Among those tragically killed in the horrific flash floods is a former Valencia CF player.
The Spanish football club has paid tributes to José Castillejo, 28, a midfielder who also played for teams like Torre Levante, Paterna and Eldense.
It said in a statement: “We regret the death of José Castillejo, a victim of the Dana disasters.
“He was part of the club’s Academy until his youth stage and has played for several teams in the Valencian Community. RIP.”
The horrifically high death toll has sparked outrage among residents, with some accusing Spanish authorities of not warning people about the dangers posed by the weather soon enough.
Dramatic footage has been shared of how the flash floods in Valencia turned roads into rivers in a matter of minutes.
Shocking footage shared on social media by residents of the Spanish city and surrounding areas comes as the death toll for the disaster hits 205.
Two clips shared online show the speed at which the devastating flash floods took over the streets and gave inhabitants little to no time to flee.
An off-duty police officer from Benetusser revealed how he saved the lives of two of his neighbours with a rope made of bedsheets when the flash floods hit the region.
Why was Spain hit by flooding?
Spain was hit by flash floods after the east of the country was hit by a meteorological phenomena known as a ‘DANA’.
A DANA, or a ‘cold drop’ is technically a system where there is an isolated depression in the atmosphere is at high levels.
In layman’s terms, more warm and moist Mediterranean air than usual was sucked high into the atmosphere after a cold system hit the country from the south.
The easterly wind then pushed all those clouds and rain into eastern Spain.
Three to four months of rain fell in some places over the space of 24 hours.
The DANA system hit southern Spain as it arrived from Morocco yesterday and is now expected to head west over southern Portugal.