FLASH floods on the east coast of mainland Spain have now claimed four lives, including the man from Finestrat (Alicante province) who died in the early hours of Saturday after trying to reach his car on the seafront.
The most recent is a 47-year-old man who drowned when his garage in Los Alcázares (Murcia) flooded at around 23.00 last night (Monday).
His wife had called the Armed Forces emergency response unit after her husband went to the garage, at some distance from their home, to check on his car and did not return.
Divers from the unit, and firefighters from the Mar Menor strip, went out to search for him and found his within minutes in the garage.
Earlier, a 40-year-old Moroccan man drowned after the current out on the street dragged him into a privately-owned swimming pool.
Also between Friday night and Saturday morning, a man of 30 lost his life in the outskirts of Castellón city, when his car was washed off a country lane and overturned in a ditch.
Rivers along the length of the Comunidad Valenciana have burst their banks and flooded entire towns, including the river Segura through Orihuela in the south of the Alicante province, and the river Girona in the north of the same, plus the rivers Clariano and Júcar in that of Valencia.
Operations and consultations planned at Orihuela's Vega Baja hospital on Monday were cancelled, whilst homes in the town were evacuated.
Those along the river Girona in the northern part of the province of Alicante, and in the inland town of Ontinyent (Valencia province) were also evacuated.
Schools throughout the Comunidad Valenciana and the Region of Murcia were shut yesterday, and some are expected to close today (Tuesday).
In Murcia alone, over 350 people have been rescued from their homes and cars.
The downpours are expected to move towards the north-east from today, heading for Catalunya.
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