Spain flood update: Dogs patrol streets as vigilante ‘with sticks’ to search for missing people

Floods piled cars like toys on the streets, engulfed houses and covered entire neighborhoods in sludge, with authorities reporting 217 deaths.

Spanish public health experts warned of imminent health risks from stagnant floodwaters and decomposing bodies.

The Ministry of Health insists that water contamination by animal and human carcasses is not a public health problem at this time.

However, residents remain at high risk of gastrointestinal illness from drinking contaminated water, injuries from debris, and a proliferation of disease-spreading mosquitoes.

Public health associations, emergency response teams and NGOs are currently working on the ground to ensure the safety and hygiene of residents in the most affected areas, including Paiporta and Chiva in Valencia.

Dozens more deaths are feared, and health authorities have urged local authorities to speed up searches for bodies and clean-up efforts to prevent further risks.

The body of one of the four missing people has been found in Retour, Albacete state

The Spanish floods occurred along a line stretching from the Bay of Cadiz to Valencia. However, in Retour, Albacete province, some areas have been hit harder than others by heavy rains, and the military has been sent in for search and rescue operations.

Rescuers today confirmed that they had found the body of a man who was one of the four people missing in Le Tours.

Immediately after the disaster, three bodies were discovered in Retour. Two of them were women aged 70 and 92.

Divers are still searching for bodies in a flooded underground car park at the Bonaire Shopping Center in Valencia.

Emergency services are navigating through the murky waters and using boats to search for potential victims at the shopping center in areas where at least a meter of water remains.

Survivors told Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the horrifying incident was a “nightmare” and “worse than a tsunami movie”, with staff rushing inside the facility as people vomited and panicked. He talked about how he narrowly escaped death as a torrent washed over him. attack

Bonaire is the size of 100 soccer fields and has 123 stores including Zara and H&M, 34 restaurants, a bowling alley and a 12-screen movie theater.

One local resident wrote on social media: “We were told to evacuate, so we were lucky to be able to get the car out of the underground parking lot. When I drove out, there were still people, about 30 cars. They… It’s scary to think what you’ll find when you drain the water.

Spain’s National Guard on Tuesday appealed to relatives of those missing in the deadly floods to find bodies, after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said 10.6 billion euros ($11.6 billion) would be earmarked for relief for victims. asked for a DNA sample to determine his identity.

The government has refused to release the number of missing people nearly a week after the disaster. Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlasca said only that it was a “significant number” and that, in the absence of clear information, “it is best not to specify.”

Sir Keir Starmer’s senior cabinet has set out plans to deal with this winter’s extreme weather following devastating flooding in Spain.

Downing Street said cross-government efforts would “ensure the country is as resilient as possible” over the winter.

At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband warned that 600,000 people in the UK could be at risk of future flooding due to climate change.

Pat McFadden, First Minister of the Duchy of Lancaster, led a ministerial briefing on winter preparedness, adding: “Recent events in Spain, for example, were a reminder of the impact extreme weather can have on local communities.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are always prepared for any eventuality, whether it’s the impact of extreme weather or the impact on the NHS.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said: “A link was made to the fact that climate change can cause extreme weather events. We have clearly seen very destructive scenes like this in Spain. .”

Vigilante groups angry at authorities’ response to Spain’s worst flooding disaster in decades took to the streets of Paiporta, outside Valencia, to prevent widespread robbery and looting after dark.

Informally organized groups of stick-wielding locals patrolled one of the worst-hit areas, where at least 60 of the 217 victims were killed.

Martin, 19, told Reuters he and his friends were taking the law into their own hands because they believed police were failing in their duty to maintain public safety.

“We’re on patrol because we don’t want our neighbors to feel the anxiety they’ve been feeling over the past few days with various robberies,” he said. “People have already lost enough.”

Public anger over what residents say was a slow and inadequate response by authorities led to King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez being pelted with mud during a visit on Sunday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez approved a €10.6bn (£8.9bn) relief package for 78 communities.

He outlined the plan and compared it to measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, including financial support for businesses and local governments, as well as financial support for affected homeowners. It said it included direct payments of between 20,000 and 60,000 euros.

Mr Sánchez said he would ask the European Union (EU) to help with bailout costs.

The king’s comments came during a visit to the epicenter of the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory, where a crowd of furious locals sifted through mud clumps left by the storm’s flooding. He threw it at King VI and his wife Queen Letizia.