At least 95 dead in eastern Spain after flooding

Military K-9 units on Thursday sought people still missing in Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, and elsewhere, according to the state-run media outlet RTVE. Personnel with the Spanish Air Force flew over affected areas to assist with search and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people in different areas still lacked power. Authorities carried out 3,400 rescues since the storm first hit, RTVE reported. Officials have provided basic necessities to some people affected by the storm, but thieves still looted shops and supermarkets, RTVE reported.

So are the storms still going on? Castilla-La Mancha’s local government said Wednesday that weather conditions were looking better than they had for several days. In a separate statement, local authorities decreed three days of mourning for those lost.

Did anyone know this storm was going to happen? Officials watched the storm before it struck populated areas, Castilla-La Mancha President Emiliano García-Page said. But the storm-watchers failed to predict its intensity and volume. Government agencies have responded well to the crisis, he said, but they haven’t been able to match nature.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift from yesterday about when the storms had a lower death toll.