Flood survivor endured three days trapped at home next to dead relative

Spanish prime minister admits response so far ‘not enough’ amid criticism of ‘too slow’ regional authorities

An 87-year-old woman was rescued after three days trapped with the body of her dead sister-in-law after the Valencia floods.
Firefighters carried the pensioner to safety after her niece sounded the alarm about her disappearance.
Initial Spanish media reports suggested the flood victim had been rescued from a car, but it later emerged she had been trapped in her home in Massanassa, near Valencia, with the body of her relative.
Another woman was discovered alive in a car in nearby Benetusser after her cries for help were heard, but she was alone and the rescue was a separate incident.
On Sunday, volunteers were ordered to stay away from nearly a dozen towns near Valencia that have been most impacted by flooding after a new weather warning was given for the area.
An orange alert is in place for Valencia and the neighbouring province of Castellon, further north, with more storms expected. Heavy rain was reported in Alberic, south-east of Valencia, from early on Sunday morning.
Rescue teams are searching for more victims who were trapped in flooded garages and cars in Valencia during the storm, which has led to more than 200 deaths and left 2,000 people missing.
On Saturday, Spain’s government ordered the deployment of 10,000 soldiers and police officers to the Valencia flash flood disaster zone amid a row over control of the rescue effort.
Pedro Sanchez, the Socialist prime minister, called it the biggest peacetime deployment of military personnel in Spain’s history after admitting the response so far was “not enough”.
By Sunday, a total of 7,500 troops and more than 9,000 officers will be aiding in the efforts to locate bodies and survivors, as well as restoring order to destroyed towns and villages, some of which have been cut off from food, water and power for days.
Spain’s government has been frustrated by what it believes is the slow response to the disaster by Carlos Mazon, Valencia’s regional president, from the conservative People’s Party.
Despite the extent of the destruction and the loss of life in the region, Mr Mazon’s administration has kept its official emergency level at two on a scale of three.
If emergency level three was triggered, control over the relief and rescue effort would automatically fall to the Spanish government in Madrid.
Sources from Mr Sanchez’s government told The Telegraph that there was frustration at having to wait for Mr Mazon to request each increment in resources deployed.
“We don’t expect a leader from the PP to hand control over to our administration,” said a central government source.
In a televised address on Saturday morning, Mr Sanchez said he was “aware” the response was not enough. “There are problems and severe shortages… towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives,” he said.
He thanked Mr Mazon for asking for the boost in troop deployment before adding that there would be “time to review negligence [and] determine who was responsible” for any errors in the management of the crisis.
“Now is the time to forget our differences, to put ideological and regional sensibilities to one side and unite in our response,” he added.
Mr Mazon’s regional government has been criticised for the late issue of an emergency flood alert. It finally came after 8pm on Tuesday, when fast-moving flood waters had already swept through settlements.
Anger amongst residents has been palpable. Trade unions called on Mr Mazon to resign on Friday as Valencia opened a temporary morgue to deal with the dead.
Valencia’s government has included officials from the national interior and territorial affairs ministries in its rescue coordination committee – but Mr Mazon retains ultimate control over what resources are requested and how they are managed.
“The central government is ready to help. Let them ask for more resources and they will be delivered,” said Mr Sanchez.
The prime minister also said his government would create a fund to finance the reconstruction of the disaster zones in Valencia and other areas affected by heavy rain and flooding in Castilla-La Mancha and other regions.
Spain has approached the European Commission to seek financial assistance with the reconstruction effort, he said.
Several European countries have offered to help Spain with the emergency, but the government has so far refused all external help.
France’s interior ministry offered to send 250 firefighters to help in the search for survivors, and the Portuguese government said it would send “whatever is needed” in the rescue and clean-up effort.
On Saturday, army commanders led the search for bodies in flooded tunnels and underground garages.
“Over three days, we’ve been in several garages with five or six bodies in each. It takes a toll on young soldiers, of course it does,” a non-commissioned officer in Spain’s UME emergency military said.
The officer, who could not give his name because of military guidelines, told The Telegraph: “What I try to do is rotate them and their roles so the same person doesn’t find the next one.
“We know we’re going to find bodies because when we get to a building with a garage, there is someone there saying my husband or my wife went to move the car and I didn’t see them again. They want answers, and that’s natural.”
Unknown numbers remain missing, with the local authorities denying reports that the figure could be as high as 2,000.
Speaking over the screeching sound of a car being towed clear of an underpass, UME soldier Mario Villena shrugged off the impact of the bodies he had seen over recent days, saying: “It’s our job, full stop. There’s no way around it in a catastrophe such as this we’re seeing here.”
Private Villena was joined by several soldiers who are currently off-duty but turned up to help out with the clearance operation, wearing civilian clothing with military motifs to differentiate themselves from UME personnel on duty.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Valencian volunteers continued to assist with the clean-up, taking emergency supplies to stricken towns and neighbourhoods.
Valencia’s regional government has banned private individuals’ cars from passing checkpoints on the edge of the flood zone and told volunteers to assemble at the city’s Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias complex, from where they will be taken by bus to hard-hit locations.
Some motorways have reopened, but local and regional roads resembled “Swiss cheese”, meaning certain places would probably remain inaccessible by land for weeks, Oscar Puente, the transport minister, told El Pais daily.
On Saturday, Diego Simeone, the manager of Atletico Madrid football club, criticised La Liga for going ahead with weekend fixtures.
“It’s clear that it makes no sense, what is happening is something that’s so hard,” Simeone told reporters before Atletico faced Las Palmas on Sunday. “It’s emotional to see all the people going out into the streets to help … with whatever they can.
“There are people who are having a terrible time. It’s very sad, and we are in a place where they tell us to continue, and here we are, continuing.”