At least 95 people die in devastating flash floods in Spain

Torrential rains in Spain have turned village streets into rivers, destroyed homes, disrupted transportation and killed at least 95 people in the country's worst natural disaster in recent memory.

Flooding caused by storms that started on Tuesday and lasted until Wednesday occurred in southern and eastern Spain, from Malaga to Valencia. Muddy floods drag cars down the streets at high speeds and roll garbage and household items into the water. Police and emergency services used helicopters to rescue people from their homes and inflatable boats to reach drivers stuck in their cars.

On Wednesday, emergency services in the Valencia region confirmed that the death toll had risen to 92. Two other victims were reported in the neighboring region of Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

"Yesterday was the worst day of my life," Ricardo Gabaldon, the mayor of Util, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE. He said six residents had died and several others were missing.

He added: "We were trapped like rats. Cars and trash cans were moving in the streets. The water rose to 3 meters (9.8 feet).”

The Spanish government announced three days of public mourning from Thursday.

"To those who are searching for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain," Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address.

More than 1,100 soldiers from Spain's emergency response units were sent to the affected areas, and the central government set up a crisis committee to coordinate rescue efforts.

Xavier Berenger, 63, ran from his bakery in Util as the rushing waters rushed towards him. "The water inside the shop reached 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) and I'm worried that my business has been destroyed," he said.

He continued: "I had to get out of a window because the water reached my shoulders. I took refuge on the first floor with the neighbors and stayed there all night. I have to throw away everything, refrigerators, ovens, everything."

Maria Carmen Martinez, another resident of Util, witnessed a harrowing rescue and said: "It was really terrible. A man was holding on to a fence and was falling and asking for help. They couldn't help him until the helicopters came."

A town in Valencia called Paiporta suffered tremendous damage. More than 30 people died in the city of about 25,000, Mayor Marbel Albalat told RTVE. The media showed pictures of elderly people in chairs and wheelchairs at a nursing home in Paiporta, looking scared and worried as the water reached their knees.

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