What to know about the unprecedented floods that killed more than 200 in Spain

VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — In a matter of minutes, flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain swept away almost everything in their path. With no time to react, people were trapped in vehicles, homes and businesses. Many died and thousands of livelihoods were shattered. A...

A week after Spain's floods, families hold out hope that loved ones are not among the dead

SEDAVI, Spain (AP) — Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise. He never came back. One week after catastrophic flooding devasted eastern Spain, María Murgui still holds out hope that her father is alive and among the...

Heavy rains in Barcelona disrupt rail service as troops search for more flood victims in Valencia

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Continuing storms in eastern Spain that led to massive flooding last week and killed at least 217 people, mostly near Valencia, dumped rain on Barcelona on Monday, prompting authorities to suspend commuter rail service. Spanish Transport Minister Óscar...

Spain flood survivors hurl mud at the royals and top government officials

PAIPORTA, Spain (AP) — A crowd of enraged survivors hurled clots of mud left by storm-spawned flooding at the Spanish royal couple on Sunday during their first visit to the center of their nation's deadliest natural disaster in living memory. Spain's national broadcaster reported...

Mud-caked volunteers clean flood debris in a Spanish town as authorities struggle to respond

CHIVA, Spain. (AP) — Mud cakes her boots, splatters her leggings and the gloves holding her broom. Brown specks freckle her cheeks. The mire covering Alicia Montero is the signature uniform of the impromptu army of volunteers who, for a third day Friday, shoveled and swept out the...

Crashing waves in a hilltop village, a night of terror from Spain's floods

CHIVA, Spain (AP) — Irene Cuevas will never forget the sound of the waves crashing below her apartment’s balcony. If only there had been a flash of lightning in the darkness to let her glimpse what sounded like a roaring sea. “It was a constant fear because we...

'It is all in ruins.' The shattered lives of Paiporta at the epicenter of Spain's floods

PAIPORTA, Spain (AP) — The pictures of the smiling toddlers on the wall somehow survived. Most everything else in the daycare — the cradles, the highchairs, the toys — was ruined when a crushing wall of water swept through Paiporta, turning the Valencia municipality of 30,000...

Spain searches for bodies after unprecedented flooding claims at least 158 lives

BARRIO DE LA TORRE, Spain (AP) — Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia...

Flood survivors say regional Spanish officials waited too long to warn them of the danger

BARRIO DE LA TORRE, Spain (AP) — Moments after rushing waters burst through the door to her home, Mari Carmen Pérez received a text message alert from regional Spanish authorities warning her of the possibility of flash floods. By the time Pérez's phone buzzed, the water has...

Spanish authorities boost death toll from devastating flash floods to at least 155 victims