Barcelona put on flooding red alert after devastating Spain storms as flights cancelled & parts of airport submerged
A RED alert has now been issued for Barcelona after the catastrophic flash floods in Valencia have cost the lives of at least 217 people.
Spain‘s weather service has issued a red warning of “extreme danger” and urged people not to travel “unless strictly necessary.”
Mobile phones screeched with an alert for “extreme and continued rainfall” on the southern outskirts of the city.
The alert also urged people to avoid any normally dry gorges or canals as officials in Catalonia have warned of “continuous and torrential” rain in two regions.
The deadly storms that hit the Spanish Valencia region last week have now caused chaos in Barcelona with flash floods in the areas around the city’s airport.
The airport operator Aena cancelled 50 flights heading to the El Prat Airport due to the rainstorm in the area.
And Spain‘s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said another 15 flights that were due to land in Barcelona airport this morning were diverted.
Shocking footage shows water pouring from the ceilings as passengers were seen wading through the water at the departure gates.
Several highways have been closed due to flooding.
The Transport minister said he was also suspending all commuter trains in northeast Catalonia.
It comes as last night flooding hit the area of Tarragona in the Catalonia region.
Footage shows several inches of water rushing down city streets past cars and flooding parts of the city.
Classes were cancelled in Tarragona, a city in southern Catalonia after a red alert for rains was issued.
Meanwhile, in flood-ravaged Valencia, the search for bodies continues today as residents, volunteers and thousands of soldiers and police officers have joined the clean-up efforts of mud and debris.
At least 217 people have died in the killer floods that devastated Valencia over the last week.
The death toll is expected to rise to about 400, making it Europe’s deadliest flash flood in five decades – as another 2,000 remain missing.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has deployed 5,000 soldiers to help recover bodies and survivors, on top of the 2,000 already on the ground.
Addressing the nation this weekend, the PM said: “We are talking about the largest deployment of state security forces and bodies of the armed forces that has ever been made in our country in times of peace.”
A warship carrying 104 marine infantry soldiers as well as trucks with food and water was approaching Valencia port even as a strong hailstorm pummelled Barcelona.
The victims of the deadly storms include three Brits after a couple that had been reported missing was confirmed dead this morning.
Don Turner, 78, and his wife, Terry, 74 were found in the town of Pedralba near Valencia.
The pair’s daughter, Ruth O’Loughlin, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, confirmed her parents’ bodies were found in their car on Saturday.
She told the BBC they had moved to Spain ten years ago as they “always wanted to live in the sunshine”.
Ruth said she had last spoken to them before they disappeared adding that her mum had been complaining about the rain.
And another Brit aged 71, died in hospital last week after he was rescued by boat from his flooded home near Malaga.
The response to the floods has sparked anger among locals as they slammed late alerts from authorities and a perceived delayed response by emergency services.
Furious crowds were seen hurling mud at the Spanish King during his first visit to the disaster-hit region.
The barrage included a few rocks and other objects while residents chanted “murderers!” as King Felipe and Queen Letizia walked through the streets of Paiporta.
At some point, the King was seen snapping at a Valencian screaming at him and responding: “If you want, I won’t come and I’ll stay in Madrid.”
Two bodyguards were treated for injuries as one of them could be seen with a bloody wound on his forehead while officials also rushed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from the scene.