Spanish flood survivor found in car after 72-hour ordeal as death toll rises

A dramatic rescue operation in Valencia led to finding a woman alive after being stuck in her flood-trapped car for 3-days with her deceased sister-in-law. Martin Perez from regional Proteccion Civil shared this rare good news amid devastating circumstances

The Spanish government launched an un-precedented peace-time military response: deploying 7‚500 troops and 9k police officers to assist with rescue operations. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ordered this massive deployment while addressing issues with the regions disaster management; the response has faced criticism due to delayed emergency alerts

A political stand-off emerged between central government and Valenciaʼs regional president Carlos Mazón regarding control of rescue efforts. The regional administration kept its emergency level at 2 instead of 3 which would transfer control to Madrid: this decision affected resource allocation and coordination

Military teams report grim discoveries in flood-affected areas. Mario Villena‚ a UME soldier described their challenging work: “Its our job full stop“ The teams found multiple bodies in submerged garages while rotating personnel to manage psychological impact

There are problems and severe shortages... towns buried by mud desperate people searching for their relatives

Transport infrastructure suffered major damage with roads looking like “swiss cheese“ according to Transport Minister Oscar Puente. Local authorities stopped private vehicles from entering affected zones; organizing volunteer efforts through central distribution points

Even sports felt the impact as Diego Simeone criticized La Ligaʼs decision to continue matches: “Its clear that it makes no sense what is happening is something thats so hard“