A week after Spain's floods, families hold onto hope loved ones are not among dead

SEDAVI, Spain -- Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise.

He never came back.

One week after catastrophic flooding devasted eastern Spain, María Murgui still holds out hope that her father is alive and among the unknown number of the missing.

“He was like many people in town who went out to get their car or motorbike to safety,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press. “The flash flood caught him outside, and he had to cling to a tree in order to escape drowning. He called us to tell us that he was fine, that we shouldn’t worry.”

But when María set out into the streets of Sedaví to try to rescue him from the water washing away everything in its path, he was nowhere to be found.

“He held up until 1 in the morning,” she said. “By 2, I went outside with a neighbor and a rope to try to locate him. But we couldn’t find him. And since then, we haven’t heard anything about him.”

At least 218 have been confirmed dead after a deluge caused by heavy rains late on Oct. 29 and the next morning swamped entire communities, mostly in Spain's Valencia region, catching most off guard. Regional authorities have been heavily criticized for having issued alerts to mobile phones some two hours after the disaster had started.

Authorities have yet to any give an estimate of the missing seven days on. Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, however, shows a steady stream of appeals by people who are searching for family members who are not accounted for.

María Murgui herself has posted a missing person’s message on social media with a photo of her father, a 57-year-old retiree.

“This is like riding a rollercoaster. Sometimes I feel very bad and sometimes I feel better. I try to stay positive,” she said. “This truly is madness. We don’t know what else to do. Neither does anybody else in town.”

While many search for their loved ones, the gargantuan recovery efforts in Sedaví and dozens of other communities slowly moved forward.

To aid those in need, the central government approved a 10.6-billion-euro relief package for 78 communities on Tuesday. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez compared it to the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The package includes direct payments of 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros to owners of damaged homes, among other financial aid for businesses and municipal governments.

“We have a lot of work left to do, and we know it,” Sánchez said.

Sánchez said that he will ask the European Union to help pay for the relief, saying “it is time for the European Union to help.”

The floods have left behind post-apocalyptic scenes.

Street after street in town after town is still covered with thick brown mud and mounds of ruined belongings, clumps of rotting vegetation, and wrecked vehicles. A stench arises from the muck.

In many places, people still face shortages of basic goods, and lines form at impromptu emergency kitchens and stands handing out food. Water is running again but authorities say it is not fit for drinking.

The ground floors of thousands of homes have been ruined. It is feared that inside some of the vehicles that the water washed away or trapped in underground garages there could be bodies waiting to be recovered.

Thousands of soldiers are working with firefighters and police reinforcements in the immense emergency response. Officers and troops are searching in destroyed homes, the countless cars strewn across highways, streets, or lodged in the mud in canals and gorges.

Authorities are worried about other health problems caused by the aftermath of the deadliest natural disaster in Spain's recent history. They have urged people to get tetanus shots and to treat any wounds to prevent infections and to clean the mud from their skin. Many people wear face masks.

Thousands of volunteers are helping out, filling the void left by authorities. But the frustration over the crisis management boiled over on Sunday when a crowd in hard-hit Paiporta hurled mud and other objects at Spain’s royals, Sánchez and regional officials when they made their first visit to the epicenter of the flood damage.

Sánchez’s national government is set to announce a new package of relief on Tuesday.

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Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.