In a video published by the Vatican this Thursday (31), Pope Francis expressed solidarity with the victims and people affected by the floods that hit southwestern Spain, mostly in the Valencia region.
“Monsignor Luis Arguello, dear brother, I want to express my support for the people of Valencia, may you in Valladolid convey it to them. I am close to everyone in this time of catastrophe and I pray for them. May God bless everyone”, declared the Pope.
The message was directed to Archbishop Luis Arguello, of the Spanish city of Valladolid.
Local authorities have not revealed how many people remain missing after Europe’s most severe flooding in years, but Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the death toll was likely to rise.
More weather warnings have been issued as the storm is expected to move north.
300 millimeters of rain in eight hours
At least 155 people have died in severe flash floods in Spain as emergency teams race to find dozens of missing people.
In the most affected region of Valencia, there are still missing people.
Several locations in southern and eastern Spain were hit by up to 300mm of rain in just a few hours on Tuesday (30), in what marked the worst rainfall in Valencia in 28 years, according to state meteorological agency AEMET.
Emergency services in Valencia, the city of Malaga and Castile-La-Mancha, among other regions, said they were still working to find dozens of missing people.
Emiliano García-Page, president of the regional government of Castile-La-Mancha, compared the flood to the collapse of a dike. “It wasn’t torrential rain, it was like a dam breaking,” García-Page told Spanish national broadcaster TVE. “People were calling [para números de emergência] crying, asking for help and it was almost impossible to reach them.”
A courtroom has been turned into a temporary morgue in the regional capital, also called Valencia, local officials said, as the death toll is expected to rise.
At least 40 people, six of whom were in a nursing home, died in the Valencia town of Paiporta, Spanish state news agency EFE reported, citing its mayor.
Videos posted by several rescue agencies on Wednesday showed entire streets flooded, people trapped on rooftops and cars piled up and overturned.
Around 1,200 people are believed to still be trapped on different parts of a highway in Valencia, and 5,000 vehicles are blocked as a result of flood waters, EFE reported, citing Spain’s Civil Guard.
Trains were suspended in the Valencia region, as were other important public services in other affected regions. Schools, museums and public libraries in the Valencia region will be closed this Thursday, according to the local government.
In Málaga, in the Andalusia region, a 71-year-old British man died of hypothermia, according to the city’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre.
*With information from Reuters
This content was originally published in Pope Francis expresses support for people affected by floods in Valencia on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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