Storms in Spain – Many deaths are feared in flooded underground car parks

Last Tuesday there was extreme rain in the east and south of Spain. In some places it rained more than normal in an entire year. According to authorities, 217 fatalities had been found on Sunday, of which 213 were in the Valencia region. Three people died in Castile-La Mancha and one death was reported in Andalusia.

Searched surface locations first
However, authorities expect many more deaths. Transport Minister Oscar Puente said rescuers first searched the more accessible locations on the surface. However, there are still many flooded ground floors, basements and underground car parks that have not yet been searched. It can be assumed that “there are still dead people there”.

Here you can see the flooded garage entrance of a shopping center in Aldaia – where many deaths are still feared:

Thousands of parking spaces under shopping center are still flooded
The situation is especially dramatic in the parking garage of the Bonaire shopping center in Aldaia, a city with 31,000 inhabitants outside Valencia. Nearly half of the 5,700 parking spaces are in the basement, which is still completely flooded six days after the flood.

Mayor fears ‘terrible things’
“We don’t know what we will find,” Aldaia mayor Guillermo Luján said on TVE. But he is afraid of ‘terrible things’. In recent days, rescuers and soldiers have installed numerous pumps to pump water from the underground parking garage. Divers have also been deployed, but they have not discovered any bodies so far.

Heavy rain again in the Valencia region
The Spanish weather service also warned of new heavy rainfall in the flood area. In parts of the Valencia region, the alarm was again in force on Sunday evening. The warning level was lowered to orange on Monday.