Madrid [Spain], November 3: Spain's prime minister has ordered 5,000 more troops and 5,000 police officers and civil guards to the Valencia region as residents criticise local authorities over their response to catastrophic flooding.
Pedro Sanchez said 211 people have been confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise further. Heavy rains that began on Monday caused floods that destroyed bridges and covered towns with mud, cutting off communities and leaving them without water, food or electricity. Sanchez said the deployment was Spain's largest in peacetime, in response to one of the worst floods in Europe this century.
The prime minister said he was aware "the response that is being given is not enough" and acknowledged "severe problems and shortages".
He said there are still "desperate people searching for their relatives. People who cannot access their homes. Homes destroyed and buried by mud. I know we have to do better." Weather warnings remain in force in north-eastern and southern Spain through Sunday, while another was issued in the Balearic Islands for Saturday.
Around 1,700 soldiers are already working on search and rescue operations in the Valencia region, although hope of finding more survivors is dwindling. Part of the focus is on pumping water out of underground tunnels and car parks, where it is feared people were trapped as water surged in.
Paco Polit, a journalist in Valencia, told the BBC the new troops would bring in much needed heavy machinery, bulldozers, trucks, and help to improve the speed and organisation of the rescue efforts.
Sanchez said some places are still "suffering from lack of basic resources". He vowed that teams would work tirelessly until aid reaches everybody and people's lives have returned to normality - and called for national unity.
Authorities have restored electricity to more than 90 percent of homes, and brought back almost half of telephone lines that had gone down, he added.
The government also authorised 100 interim civil servants to help distribute financial aid. Local authorities are facing criticism over the speed of the response and for a lack of warnings in advance of the flooding.
In the devastated town of Paiporta, where more than 60 deaths have so far been reported, residents have expressed their frustration that aid is coming in too slowly. Unsure whether it was safe to return to home, Amparo Esteve told the BBC: "No-one is helping us. I've never been in a war, but this is what it seems like."
Source: Qatar Tribune