VALENCIA, Nov 1: Flash floods in eastern Spain have resulted in a death toll of 158 on Thursday, with rescue teams still searching for many who are missing. This incident is now considered Spain’s worst flood-related disaster in modern history and could become one of Europe’s most severe storm-related tragedies in over fifty years.

Angel Victor Torres, the regional cooperation minister, reported the figures at a press conference, revealing that a year’s worth of rain fell in just eight hours in parts of the Valencia region. Meteorologists have warned that climate change is making such extreme weather events more common and destructive.

This disaster has already surpassed the 185 deaths from flooding in Germany in 2021 and historical floods in Romania and Portugal, which claimed 209 and nearly 500 lives, respectively.

Rescue teams recently recovered eight bodies, including a local policeman trapped in a garage in Valencia. In Paiporta, a nearby town, Mayor Maribel Albalat reported that 62 people had died, criticizing the lack of adequate warnings for residents about the impending flood.

Opposition politicians have accused the central government of a slow response, suggesting that timely alerts could have saved lives. Local supermarket manager Laura Villaescusa stated, “Those people wouldn’t have died if they had been warned in time.”

Antonio Molina, a survivor from Godelleta, described clinging to a pillar on a neighbor’s porch as floodwaters rose to his neck, blaming authorities for allowing construction in flood-prone areas.

The floods have severely impacted Valencia’s infrastructure, damaging around 80 kilometers of roads and submerging farmland critical for Spain’s citrus production. Transport Minister Oscar Puente noted that restoring high-speed train services between Valencia and Madrid could take two to three weeks.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited a rescue coordination center, urging residents to stay indoors due to the risk of more storms. “Right now, the most important thing is to safeguard as many lives as possible,” he emphasized.

In the hard-hit town of Utiel, where the Magro River overflowed, at least six fatalities were reported, primarily among the elderly or disabled who could not evacuate. Residents have begun cleanup efforts, using water pumps and clearing mud from the streets.

Pope Francis expressed his condolences, saying, “I’m close to them in this moment of catastrophe.” A report from Climate Central linked the floods to a low-pressure system drawing moisture from the unusually warm Tropical Atlantic, with research indicating that climate change has greatly increased the likelihood of such extreme weather.