Spain is in an official national state of mourning after an atmospheric river dumped nearly a year's worth of rain in parts of the country over eight hours, leading to extensive flooding that led to the deaths of hundreds of people, according to The Independent.
What's happening?
Rescue operations are still underway in Spain after torrential amounts of rain began drenching parts of the country on Tuesday, resulting in dangerous flash floods that trapped people in their homes and killed at least 205 people, including 202 in the hard-hit region of Valencia — declared a "disaster zone" by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday.
More than 4,500 people have been rescued, but the report notes that hundreds of people are still missing as of Friday, with security forces and more than 1,500 soldiers sifting through the debris-filled streets, destroyed vehicles, and water-logged homes in hopes of finding them.
Spain will fly its flags at half-mast during the official three-day period of national mourning.
"Entire houses have disappeared, we don't know if there were people inside or not," Amparo Fort, the mayor of Valencian town Chiva, told RNE radio, per The Independent, which explains Chiva received more rain over eight hours than it had over the previous 20 months.
"I'm terrified. Everything looks apocalyptic," Alba Paredes Borja, of Alfafar, Valencia, shared with the publication. "By the time they warned homes were flooding, mine was already underwater."
Why is this important?
As The Independent notes, research group Climate Central reported the flooding in Spain was caused by an atmospheric river — storm systems that can carry as much water as seven to 15 Mississippi Rivers, according to the American Geophysical Union's news magazine.
In Spain, the atmospheric river was carrying extra moisture from a warmer-than-usual Tropical Atlantic, resulting in Spain's worst flood-related disaster in the modern era.
Experts predict storm systems like these will continue to grow more dangerous in many parts of the world as a direct result of warming global temperatures, including in the western United States, which was drenched by a series of powerful atmospheric rivers early in 2024.
Rising global temperatures have also supercharged extreme weather events like hurricanes and made wildfires and droughts more frequent and severe.
With pollution from dirty fuels being the primary driver of this overheating — according to a century-plus of scientific evidence, per NASA — nations around the world are investing in green projects such as solar farms (transforming sunlight into energy doesn't produce pollution) and supporting pedestrian and bike-friendly policies, among other things.
How is Spain recovering from the floods?
The Independent reports that some have expressed anger over their late warning about the floods and slow emergency response times as hundreds of thousands were left without electricity or running water.
However, residents in Valencia are coming together in the aftermath to organize food, water, and cleaning supply deliveries to those in need, including in Torrent and Paiporta, which can only be reached via the Jorge Meliá Lafarga bridge.
"The solidarity of people is invaluable," Jorge Ramos Tolosa, a history lecturer from the University of Valencia, said, per The Independent. "Amidst the desolation, devastation, and sadness we are experiencing here, it is beautiful and encouraging to see this wave of support."
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