Four Rescued From Tunnel Amid Deadly Flooding in Eastern Spain

Record rainfall in eastern Spain has left streets inundated, buildings flooded, and turned highways into rivers, video posted by local officials on September 13 shows.

At least four people have died as a result of storms along the eastern coast of Spain since September 12. In one town, nearly 10 inches of rain fell in 12 hours. At least two airports — in Almería and Murcia — were forced to close, and the federal government mobilized hundreds of troops to assist in emergency efforts.

Footage posted by officials in the town of Pilar de la Horadada showed the rescue of one of four people trapped in a tunnel using an inflatable boat. The AP-7 motorway goes through the underpass, which in the footage resembled a river.

Higher up, in the town itself, water ran torridly through the streets on Friday morning, additional video showed. “DON’T LEAVE YOUR HOUSES,” the town warned residents in a note accompanying the footage.

The town’s mayor, José María Pérez Sánchez, posted footage to his personal account of a basement area — one of “hundreds” flooded in the area — where locals appeared to be trying to pump water from.

“Feelings of desolation, a lot of tension and uncertainty, that’s what we Pilareños have lived for the last hours,” wrote Pérez Sánchez. The mayor called the rainfall in the area unprecedented. Credit: Pilar de la Horadada via Storyful