Severe flooding in eastern Spain kills at least five people

At least five people have died and thousands have been evacuated after a severe storm triggered torrential rain and flooding across Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast.

A DANA weather system known as Storm Adam has caused widespread destruction across the Valencia and Alicante regions. While Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle reported four confirmed deaths, Euronews stated the death toll has reached at least five. Reported fatalities include a 79-year-old woman in Oliva, a man who suffered a heart attack at a campsite, a man who drowned while swimming in Sagunto, and a woman who fell into a swollen stream in Catalonia.

Emergency services have conducted hundreds of rescues as rivers including the Girona and Vernisa overflowed. In the Valencia region, the Civil Guard evacuated more than 2,100 people and rescued nearly 500, with some residents forced onto rooftops to await helicopters and boats. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is scheduled to visit Valencia on Tuesday to survey the damage, noting that military emergency teams are assisting in the field.

The rainfall has been described as exceptional, with some areas recording their highest accumulations in decades. The town of Oliva saw 600 litres of rain per square metre in 24 hours, while L'Atzúvia registered 713 litres during the storm. RTVE noted that while this event is among the most intense ever recorded in Spain, the rainfall levels remain behind historic totals recorded in 1987 and 2024.

The storm has also impacted the Balearic Islands, leading to school closures and flight disruptions in Mallorca and Ibiza. Although stay-at-home orders were lifted for 145 municipalities as the rain lost intensity, the national weather agency Aemet maintains warnings for nine provinces. Authorities continue to monitor Catalonia and the Balearics for further rainfall.

Background

The current emergency follows a devastating flood disaster in the Valencia region nearly two years ago that resulted in more than 220 deaths.