Vincent McAviney: Europe Correspondent on the flash flood in Eastern Spain

Communities in Eastern Spain have been devastated by flooding that's killed at least 158 people.  

Rescuers are now searching for bodies.  

The Valencia region has been the hardest hit, with widespread destruction to roads and railways.  

Europe correspondent Vincent McAviney told Ryan Bridge there were some warnings about strong rainfall.  

But, he says, people are saying there should've been more of a response when the rain fell, to alert people to get off the roads and get to higher ground. 

McAviney says the region had been experiencing a severe drought for months, and water was unable to seep into the hard, dry earth. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Vincent mechav any Are, UK europe correspondent Vincent. The death
toll still rising from this funding in Spain.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, that's right. The death toll is now up to
one hundred and fifty eight people with we understand it,
one hundreds more still missing. This has been a remarkable
and tragic event, about a year's worth of rainfall coming
down in just eight hours in the Valencia region. It
has caused widespread devastation. You really should look at the photos.

(00:29):
I mean this was completely you know, they were expecting
bad rain, but nothing like this. It's destroyed roads and homes, buildings,
It's taken out bridges and highways. It is utterly devastating
and the Spanish Prime Minister has been visiting the scene
today promising all kinds of support. There is EU wide
support coming in for this region. And sadly, it feels

(00:50):
like this death holl, I mean, just looking at these pictures,
the number of vehicles sort of stashed up and washed
away in this people were just caught completely on the hop.
It feels like the death holl will sadly continue to rise.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, it's like somebody who has picked up a box
full of cars and just tipped them on a street.
It's frightening to look at a lot of people angry
about the lack of preparedness. You know, by the time
they got the warnings, the flooding had already started.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, that's right, And I mean from listening to interviews
with people on the ground, you know there had been
a severe drought in this region of Spain for many months.
The ground was completely sort of hard and dry, so
this water had nowhere to go. It couldn't steep into
the earth, so it has all just gathered so quickly.
And I think there are questions now as to why.
You know, there were warnings ahead of the rainfall that

(01:38):
there would be strong rainfall, but I think the reaction
as this rainfall was going along, I mean, you know,
there should have been a bit more perhaps, I think
people are saying of a response after the first sort
of two three hours of how heavy this rain was,
to alert people to get off the roads and get
to safe higher ground if possible.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Thanks so much for your time this morning. That's Vincent
meca Any, a UK europe correspondent. More from early edition
with Ryan Bridge.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
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