Spain flooding death toll climbs to 217 as cleanup efforts in mud-soaked streets continue

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Valencia, Spain, has reached 217, officials announced Sunday, as the search for survivors -- and bodies -- continued in devastated cities and towns left caked in mud and strewn with debris.

"The situation we are living in is tragic," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in Spanish during a televised national address on Saturday, describing the discovery of bodies in garages, homes, riverbanks and roads. "We are almost certainly talking about the most serious flooding our continent has seen so far this century. And I am aware that the response that is being given is not enough."

Sánchez said the government is sending 10,000 soldiers and police to the eastern region of Valencia, about 200 miles east of Madrid, to assist local authorities.

"We have activated the largest deployment, which has already carried out 4,800 rescues and has helped more than 30,000 people in flooded homes, roads and industrial estates," Sánchez said. "Unfortunately, the magnitude of the catastrophe means that they are insufficient."

Videos from volunteer-run crews showed streets in the city of Valencia caked in layers of mud and littered with smashed-up cars, broken furniture and debris.

The Civil Guardia, one of the national law enforcement agencies of Spain, shared videos and photos on social media of rescuers at night guided by lights directed by overhead drones, wading through nearly shoulder-height water and searching overturned cars.

The devastating flooding began Tuesday amid heavy rain in southeast Spain, quickly overtaking streets and trapping people in cars and businesses. The Valencia region was inundated with the equivalent of a year's worth of rainfall in just eight hours, according to the State Meteorological Agency.

Carlos Mazon, the president of the Valencia region, said in a statement in Spanish on Saturday that 69 municipalities across the entire region were either totally or partially affected by the flooding.

"We have all seen fallen bridges, collapsed roads, washed-out train tracks and the streets of our towns full of mud, cars and furniture piled up," he said.

Amid questions over the government's response to the catastrophe, he added, "We are going through the worst moment in our history in our land. A moment of a magnitude that no one could imagine. We are facing the challenge of our lives and together we are going to solve it."

On Sunday, while visiting a town devastated by the catastrophic flooding, Spain's King Felipe VI was confronted by many angry residents, some who pelted him with mud and could be heard chanting "murderers."