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Spanish rescue teams hunt for missing out on after lethal floods

Spain released another storm warning on Thursday for part of the Valenica area devastated by floods that have killed a minimum of 95 people, as rescuers scoured flooded fields and stranded vehicles for those still missing.

Regional authorities have actually not divulged how many individuals are still unaccounted for after Europe's deadliest floods in years, but Defence Minister Margarita Robles said late on Wednesday the death toll was likely to rise.

Rescue employees combed the wreckage of automobiles that were caked in mud beside roads or in flooded fields, with some using heavy machinery to clear particles from the streets, tv video footage revealed.

Calm weather condition returned on Thursday to the hardest-hit areas around the city of Valencia, Spain's third-largest, but the AEMET state weather condition agency issued its greatest level of alert for the province of Castellon. Further north in the Catalonia region, an amber alert was provided for the city of Tarragona.

Meteorologists said a year's worth of rain had fallen in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday, causing pile-ups on highways and submerging farmland in a region that produces about two-thirds of the citrus fruit grown in Spain, a leading international exporter of oranges.

The storm that triggered the torrential rainstorms has because relocated a northeasterly instructions.

There are currently really strong storms in the area, especially in the north of Castellon, AEMET posted on its X. account. The adverse weather continues! Be careful! it added,. saying individuals need to not take a trip to the location.

The floods in Valencia damaged the area's facilities,. sweeping away bridges, roadways, railtracks and buildings as rivers. burst their banks.

Residents explained seeing individuals climbing onto the roofings. of their vehicles as a churning tide of brown water gushed through. the streets, rooting out trees and dragging away chunks of masonry. from buildings.

RESIDENTS COUNT LOSSES

In the hard-hit rural town of Utiel, some 85 km (53 miles). inland from the city of Valencia, the Magro river burst its. banks, sending up to three metres (9.8 feet) of water into. homes, the majority of which are single-storey.

Utiel's mayor, Ricardo Gabaldon, said at least six people. had actually died in the town of about 12,000, most of them senior or. disabled individuals who were not able to clamber to safety.

Early on Thursday, citizens utilized water pumps carried on. tractors as they started the clean-up, with kids helping to. sweep the pathways.

The grief is for individuals who have passed away, said Encarna,. a 60-year-old instructor in the town, cleaning away tears as she. spoke in a flood-ravaged street near her damaged home. These. are my cost savings, my effort, my life. However we are alive.

The floods have actually also damaged crops and eliminated animals.

Utiel citizens Javier Iranzo, 47, and Ana Carmen Fernandez,. 48, informed Reuters the flooding had actually completely trashed their pig. farm, with 50 of their animals having actually drowned.

They estimated hundreds of thousands of euros worth of. damages and, in spite of federal government pledges of aid, said they. anxious about whether they would get state help to assist. reconstruct.

(source: Reuters)