Torrential rain from Storm Adam killed at least four people across eastern Spain on Monday. The storm forced mass evacuations, with the Valencia and Alicante regions bearing the brunt of flooding that deposited up to 700 litres of water on every square metre in 24 hours.
In the seaside town of Oliva, a 79-year-old woman was found dead inside her house and a man died of a heart attack at a campsite, DW reported. A swimmer drowned at a beach in Sagunto, and a woman in Catalonia lost her life after tumbling into a rain-swollen stream, according to France 24.
Rescue teams performed over 400 operations in the Valencia region, many by helicopter from rooftops and flooded vehicles, government representative Pilar Bernabe said. The Civil Guard said it had moved more than 2,000 people to safety, mostly from Oliva.
Authorities placed 800,000 residents under shelter-in-place orders on Monday morning, a figure that dropped to 87,000 across eight municipalities by late afternoon as conditions improved, Al Jazeera reported. Around 100 municipalities had been ordered to stay indoors.
Floodwaters swept away cars, submerged roads and cut off several towns along the Mediterranean coast, evoking memories of the 2024 Valencia floods that killed more than 230 people. The Balearic Islands and Catalonia were also hit, with schools closed and some flights cancelled.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said military emergency units were assisting rescue efforts and pledged full government support. National weather agency AEMET announced last week that September was mainland Spain's hottest on record, following the warmest summer since records began. Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the autumn storms that regularly strike eastern Spain.