Spain’s deluge continues as torrential rain hits Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​Valencia tries to dig out

Barcelona, ​​Spain – Repeated storms in eastern Spain that led to massive flooding last week and killed at least 217 people, almost all in the eastern region of Valencia, rain poured north on Monday in Barcelona, ​​​​which prompted authorities to suspend train services and air traffic as some roads were flooded.

Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente said he was suspending all passenger trains in northeastern Catalonia, a region of 8 million people, at the request of civil protection officials. Mobile phones in Barcelona rang warning of “heavy and continuous rain” on the southern outskirts of the city. The warning urged people to avoid any often dry ravines or ditches.

Puente said the rains had forced air traffic controllers to change the routes of 15 flights operating at Barcelona airport, south of the city, and the national airport manager later said 50 flights to the area had been canceled on Monday.

Several roads were closed due to flooding, and pictures posted on social media showed cars on the lower part of one of the roads partially submerged.

Classes have been canceled in Tarragona, a city in southern Catalonia roughly between Barcelona and Valencia, after a red warning for rain was issued.

King Felipe was furious at the ruined Valencia

Meanwhile, in a corpse-ridden Valencia, the search continues for bodies in houses, parking garages and thousands of wrecked cars that still litter the streets, highways, and canals that brought last week’s flooding to densely populated areas.

About 10,000 citizens, volunteers and soldiers and police have been deployed to help in the massive clean-up effort as residents try to dig out their homes and belongings from the mud and debris.

A crowd of angry survivors he threw insults and mud at King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia as they visited the Valencia suburb of Paiporta on Sunday.

The crowd shouted “Get out!” and “murderers” among other insults as the king and other officials tried to talk to the citizens, prompting security guards to open umbrellas to protect the VIPs as a mob of dozens poured mud their way.

Many people in Valencia are outraged by both the government’s response to the disaster and the lack of warnings that such a devastating flood was coming. About 3,000 residents in Valencia were without electricity and internet access was limited on Monday. There have been sporadic reports of looting, too, with at least 20 people arrested from Sunday night into Monday.

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is hit by autumn storms that can cause flooding every year, but this year brought the most devastating floods in recent memory.

Scientists link the scale of the crisis climate change.

Human-caused climate change has doubled the likelihood of hurricanes like last week’s flooding in Valencia, according to a partial analysis released on October 31 by the World Weather Attribution Group, a group of international scientists who conduct research. the role of global warming in extreme weather.

Spain has been suffering from drought conditions for almost two years, which made the flooding worse because the dry land had a hard time absorbing the sudden rain last week.