500 soldiers were sent to Valencia amid anger over the reaction

Another 500 soldiers have been deployed in the Valencia region as residents criticize local authorities for their response to the flooding there.

More than 200 people are known to have died, with most of the deaths in and around Valencia, but the death toll is expected to rise.

Heavy rains that started on Monday caused floods that destroyed bridges and covered cities in mud, cutting off communities and leaving them without water, food and electricity.

Thousands of people have traveled to rural areas to help with clean-up efforts, but on Friday authorities announced that traffic in the region would be closed for the weekend to ensure access for emergency workers.

Weather warnings in force in north-east and south Spain will end on Sunday, while another has been issued for the Balearic Islands on Saturday.

About 1,700 soldiers are already involved in search and rescue operations in the Valencia region, although hopes of finding more survivors are fading.

Another focus is on pumping water into tunnels and car parks, where it is feared that people will be trapped as the water enters.

Paco Polit, a journalist from Valencia, told the BBC that the new soldiers will deliver what is needed heavy machinery, tractors, trucks, and to help improve the speed and coordination of rescue efforts.

Local authorities have faced criticism for the speed of the response and the lack of warnings before the floods.

Amparo Andres, who has owned his shop in Valencia for 40 years, told the BBC that at one point the water in the building reached his neck and he believed he was going to die.

“At least I’m alive, but I lost everything. My business, my home,” she said.

“And the government doesn’t do anything. It’s only the young people who help us.”

After returning to his home, local resident Juan Pérez said: “All my memories in my life.”

“My parents lived there. And now overnight, it’s all gone.”

The civil protection agency, directed by the regional government, issued an emergency warning to the phones of people in the city of Valencia and its surroundings after 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, at which time the floodwaters were rushing. increase in many areas and in others the damage has already been reduced.

Juan González, who lives in the town of Aldaia, said that the area is prone to floods.

“It is annoying that our local government has not done anything about this, knowing that this is coming,” he said.

In the devastated town of Paiporta, where more than 60 people have been reported dead so far, residents expressed their frustration that help is coming so slowly.

“There are not enough firefighters, the shovels haven’t arrived yet,” Paco Clemente, 33, a pharmacist, told AFP while helping to remove the mud from his friend’s house.

The federal government in Madrid is also facing criticism for not mobilizing troops sooner than it did and rejecting an offer from the French government to send 200 firefighters to help with search and rescue efforts.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has vowed to do whatever it takes to help those affected by the disaster.

Volunteer clean-up efforts in Valencia – organized mainly by young people on social media – have seen large columns of people marching towards the areas most affected by the floods.

On Friday, local authorities said traffic will be restricted in the Valencia city area between 00:00 local time on Saturday and 23:59 on Sunday.

The head of the infrastructure area Martínez Mus said that this step was taken to ensure that emergency workers can use the roads freely and ensure the supply of water, power, communications and food distribution.

A number of people have been arrested for looting, one resident of Aldaia told AFP that he saw thieves taking things from an abandoned shop as “people are in need”.

Areas in the south – including Huelva and Cartaya – were also hit by heavy rains, and hundreds of families in the city of Jerez had to be evacuated from their homes.

One of the reasons why the floods are so severe is the lack of rain during the season, which has left the soil in many areas in the east and south unable to absorb rainwater well.

The region of Chiva near Valencia saw as much rain in an eight-hour period on Tuesday as it usually sees all year, according to the state weather agency Aemet.

Hot weather may have contributed to the severity of the floods.

In the first report, the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international team of scientists investigating the role of global warming in extreme weather, estimated that the rain was 12% heavier than it would have been, and that such weather has doubled. it is possible.