Spain floods latest: Fresh weather warnings for rain and hail in Valencia as huge volunteer clean-up continues
Fresh weather warnings for rain, hail and storms have been issued by the Spanish government as the huge volunteer clean-up in the wake of the devastating floods continues.
The hardest-hit region of Valencia is among the southern and eastern regions where Aemet, the country’s meteorological agency, has implemented an orange alert for a “significant risk” of rains and storms, which might also bring hail, between 9am and midnight on Sunday. Castellón is among the areas facing a yellow weather warning, which means there is still a “risk”.
It comes as an extra 5,000 soldiers are being deployed to the flooded Valencia region to help with the “biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime”, prime minister Pedro Sanchez said.
Along with 5,000 extra police officers and the 2,500 soldiers already on the ground, the troops will also join volunteers who continue to flock to support the search and clean-up efforts as the country reels from its worst flood-related disaster in modern history.
In a televised statement on Saturday, Mr Sanchez said the number of people killed has risen to 214, with that number expected to continue to increase as more bodies are believed to be within the wreckage.
Before-and-after satellite images have emerged showing the scale of devastation in Valencia. Vast areas of land are seen covered in a brown swamp of muddy water after the torrential rainfall on Tuesday.
