Spain mounts largest peacetime disaster recovery operation as storm death toll tops 200

The deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history have killed at least 214 people, and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Snchez said on Saturday.

In a televised statement, Snchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and cleanup, in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed.

"It is the biggest operation by the armed forces in Spain in peacetime," he said. "The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed."

Valencian regional authorities said on Saturday night that the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster since 1967, when at least 500 people died in Portugal.

WATCH | Spain sends 5,000 more troops to Valencia:

Spain sends 5,000 more troops to Valencia after flash floods, death toll rises past 200

13 days ago

Duration 1:55

The worst flood-related disaster to hit Spain in more than five decades has killed more than 200 people, and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Snchez said on Saturday.

Hopes of finding survivors were raised when rescuers found a woman alive after three days trapped in a car park in Montcada, Valencia. Residents burst into applause when civil protection chief Martn Prez announced the news.

Volunteers flocked to Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences complexon Saturday for the first co-ordinated cleanup organized by regional authorities. The venue has been turned into the nerve centrefor the operation.

In Valencia's Picanya suburb, shop owner Emilia, 74, told Reuters on Saturday: "We feel abandoned, there are many people who need help. It is not only my house, it's all the houses, and we are throwing away furniture, we are throwing away everything.

"When is the help going to come to have fridges and washing machines? Because we can't even wash our clothes and we can't even have a shower."

Nurse Maria Jos Gilabert, 52, who also lives in Picanya, said: "We are devastated because there is not much light to be seen here at the moment, not because they are not coming to help they are coming from all over Spain but because it will be a long time before this becomes a habitable area again."

The storm triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europeand elsewheredue to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.