Photos Show Destruction of Beloved Spanish Tourist City After Record Floods

Videos on social media show the devastation caused by record flooding that hit Valencia, Spain, on October 29. BBCAt least 95 people lost their lives due to the extreme weather event. Reuters While reporting that this was the deadliest flood in the country in more than 30 years, meteorologists announced that a year's worth of rainfall fell on Valencia in eight hours on Tuesday.

“This is a river running through,” Denis Hlavaty told the outlet. He sat on a high ledge inside a gas station, waiting to be rescued from the flood. “The gates were removed and I spent the night there, surrounded by water 2 meters (6.5 feet) deep.”

The flood caused destruction across the city, piling cars onto the streets to destroy bridges and buildings. Most of the agricultural land in Valencia, where approximately two-thirds of citrus fruits in Spain are grown, was destroyed by floods. Incredible video shows a tidal wave hurtling through homes in a residential area. Another photo taken on a busy highway shows water flowing through traffic, submerging cars and terrified passengers getting on their bonnets.

More than 1,000 soldiers from the country's emergency response team were sent to areas in Valencia to rescue trapped citizens. They shared a video showing the rescue of people trapped on flooded streets and rooftops.

In one particularly harrowing clip, nursing home residents, many in wheelchairs, can be seen sitting in waist-deep water in the flooded recreation room, waiting to be evacuated.

On Wednesday morning, regional authorities confirmed 73 deaths. By the afternoon this number had risen to 95. It was the deadliest flood in Spain since the disaster in the Pyrenees in 1996, when at least 80 people died when a campsite was flooded.

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