Spain floods Local residents appeal for help as death toll rises to 205

Vehicles piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia. Pic/AFP

Three days after historic flash floods swept through several towns in southern Valencia, in eastern Spain, the initial shock was giving way to anger, frustration and a wave of solidarity on Friday. Many streets are still blocked by piled-up vehicles and debris, in some cases trapping residents in their homes. Some places still don't have electricity, running water, or stable telephone connections.

Residents turned to media to appeal for help. "This is a disaster. There are a lot of elderly people who don't have medicine. There are children who don't have food. We don't have milk, we don't have water. We have no access to anything," a resident of Alfafar, one of the most affected towns in south Valencia, told state television station TVE. "No one even came to warn us on the first day."

So far 205 bodies have been recovered - 202 in Valencia, two in the Castilla La Mancha region and one more in Andalusia - after Spain's deadliest natural disaster in living memory. Members of the security forces and soldiers are busy searching for an unknown number of missing people, many feared to still be trapped in wrecked vehicles or flooded garages.

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