Some 158 people have been confirmed dead and “dozens and dozens” remain missing as devastating floods hit Valencia and other parts of eastern Spain this week.

The city of Huelva is currently under a red weather warning this morning with authorities predicting more than 140mm, or more than five inches, of rain will fall in 12 hours. Much of the country remains under orange and yellow warnings.

A terrified Valencia flood survivor has revealed the extent of the devastation after heavy flooding engulfed her home in a matter of minutes.

Alba Paredes Borja is from the Spanish town of Alfafar, one of the areas most affected by the deadly storm, where local authorities are asking for more ways to receive food, water and urgent medical supplies.

“I’m terrified, everything seems apocalyptic,” said Mrs. Paredes Borja.

The floods, believed to have been caused by Dana’s “cold drop” or meteorological phenomenon, have claimed the lives of 158 people, including at least three people from the municipality, leaving the city in ruins and cut off from all communication.

When it started raining heavily on Tuesday night, the 20-year-old, who lives with her cat, remembers her narrow escape when muddy water began gushing into her home, wreaking havoc.

Now that she is at a friend’s house, she explained that she was alone when the disaster occurred. “I only managed to escape with a t-shirt, some pants and my cat. “I came out barefoot, with nothing else,” she said.

In less than 10 minutes, his house was completely flooded, reaching up to two meters high.

“When they gave the notice that the houses were flooding, mine was already under water. Nothing was saved.

“The situation was overwhelming; “I felt lost and scared when I saw my house fill with water,” she added.

Their furniture was smashed, appliances were broken, and the walls were still soaked with water. “There’s nothing left, just mud,” he said.

The residents of their neighborhood woke up to a gloomy outlook, with overturned cars and it was almost impossible to walk.

“Food is scarce because all the supermarkets have been looted. You can’t enter or leave the area because everything is blocked. Although communications were restored today, we were cut off for three days,” he added.

“There are no bailouts; It’s just us. We are a group of people trying to clean the mud from our houses and driveways, but there is not much help available. I’m shocked. I have lost my house and I have nothing left. “Everyone around me has suffered the same fate.”

Those who managed to escape the floods sought refuge in the homes of relatives and neighbors.

But others have been forced to sleep in doorways and abandoned buildings. “This situation is suffocating. People fight for food and are simply trying to survive. It is alarming and terrifying: everything seems apocalyptic. “Everything is destroyed,” he said.

“Those who managed to save their cars before the floods were able to go to other places to buy food. But those without cars have difficulty eating and survive with the little they can save.”

Nearby, Francisco Baixauli needed two days to travel the 30 kilometers from his work to his hometown of Alfafar, struggling on foot through mud, debris and smashed cars after catastrophic flash floods.

His arrival, with a backpack on his back, brought tears of joy to his wife and son, who feared for their lives, especially in the early stages of Tuesday’s flooding.

“We were very afraid because my husband did not come home and we did not know where he was, we saw the water going down and how it rose, we saw desperate people, some running trying to get to their houses, cars were driving through the streets,” said his wife Angela. Muñoz.

“Then we were left without electricity, without water and we were trapped there without knowing what was going to happen.”

Upon returning from the port of Sagunto, Baixauli (53) had to stay in a neighborhood just 5 kilometers from Alfafar, “the only place he could reach.”

“I called my wife and my son and learned that they were safe at home and that it was not possible to get here until today,” he said.

Gathered and accompanied by their dog, the family surveyed the nearby streets, where some of their neighbors were clearing debris.

“We didn’t have water until today and we don’t have electricity, we have been eating sandwiches for two days… the things in the refrigerator are rotten and we can’t even take a shower,” said Mrs. Muñoz.

Karen Loftus (62), originally from Dorset, England, said she and her husband are lucky to be alive after they made the decision to abandon their car, which could save their lives.

The couple were traveling south on the AP-7 highway towards their home in Alicante on Tuesday afternoon when they were hit by a storm.

Loftus, chief executive of the British-based charity Community Action Network, said the next thing they saw was a bridge in front of them being swept away.

She told Sky News that within 10 minutes of standing still, “the water had risen and started coming into the car.”

The pressure meant that they could not open the doors of the vehicle, so they decided to escape through the windows. “Right after we got out of the car, another car floated on top of our car,” Loftus said, adding that the water level had already reached their chests. The couple eventually managed to find shelter with a truck driver who was able to scare them away from danger.

Luis Sánchez, a welder, said he saved several people who were trapped in their cars on the flooded V-31 highway south of the city of Valencia. The road quickly became a floating cemetery strewn with hundreds of vehicles.

“I saw bodies floating. “I called, but nothing,” said Sánchez. “The firefighters took the elderly away first when they could get in. I am close, so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying everywhere, they were trapped.”

As emergency services continue their frantic rescue efforts, the official number of people killed by flash floods in Spain has risen to 158.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez yesterday urged residents to stay home, warning that the devastation “is not over” and declared Valencia a “disaster zone” amid warnings of more extreme weather to come. .

He said dozens of cities had been flooded.

“For those searching for their loved ones, all of Spain feels their pain,” Sánchez said in a televised speech.

“Our priority is to help you. “We are putting all the necessary resources so that we can recover from this tragedy.” (© The Independent/Reuters)