“My whole life is my memories,” said Juan Perez, a local resident who returned home.
“My parents lived there. And now, overnight, it’s all gone.”
The Civil Protection Agency, overseen by the local government, issued an emergency alert to residents in and around Valencia by phone after 20:00 (GMT) on the 20th (local time), and by this time, the floodwaters had subsided quickly. It is increasing in many areas and in some cases is already causing great damage.
Juan González, a resident of the village of Aldaia, said the area was vulnerable to flash floods.
“It is outrageous that our local government knew this was going to happen and did nothing about it,” he said.
Residents of the devastated town of Paiporta, where more than 60 deaths have been reported so far, have expressed frustration that aid is being delivered too slowly.
“There are not enough firefighters, the shovels haven’t arrived,” Paco Clemente, a 33-year-old pharmacist, told AFP as he helped clear mud from a friend’s house.
