The Valencia floods, Spain, 2024
A stalled cut-off low dropped a year's rain in hours inland of Valencia, and the floods killed 229 people in the region.
- Verified
- Spain
- 29 October 2024
- Edition of 30 July 2026
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Evidence
6 figures, each threaded to its source
Deaths in the Valencia region
229people
2 sources
“There are 237 confirmed deaths, with 229 victims from the eastern Valencia region, according to the central government.”
Deaths across Spain
237people
2 sources
“There are 237 confirmed deaths, with 229 victims from the eastern Valencia region, according to the central government.”
Bodies recovered by 1 November
205people
“So far, 205 bodies have been recovered – 202 in Valencia”
Hours for a year's rain to fall at Chiva
8hours
2 sources
“a year’s worth of rain fell in the town of Chiva, west of Valencia, in 8 hours according to Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET).”
People rescued
4,500people
“Law enforcement agencies have rescued more than 4,500 people trapped by the floods”
Soldiers deployed by 1 November
1,700soldiers
“Members of the security forces and 1,700 soldiers from the emergency unit are searching for an unknown number of missing people.”
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Background
On 29 October 2024 a cut-off low, known in Spain as a DANA, stalled over the east of the country. Warm, moist Mediterranean air kept feeding into it, and the heaviest rain fell not on Valencia city but on the hills inland. Chiva received roughly a year's worth of rain in 8 hours. The water surged down normally dry riverbeds and drainage channels onto the densely built flood plain south of the city, sweeping cars into piles and filling garages, ground floors and underpasses within minutes. Towns such as Paiporta became the centre of the disaster. In the end 229 people died in the Valencia region and 237 across Spain, the country's worst flood disaster in modern history and Europe's deadliest weather event in five decades. The mass alert to phones was sent only late in the evening, after flooding had already begun, and the anger that followed eventually forced the regional president to resign. Recovery and rebuilding of roads, rail lines and flood defences continued more than a year later.
Causes
A stalled cut-off low
A pocket of cold air broke away from the jet stream and sat over eastern Spain. Cut off from the winds that normally move weather along, the storm stalled, so its rain kept falling on the same catchments for hours. Spanish forecasters call this a DANA, and autumn is its classic season on the Mediterranean coast.
A very warm Mediterranean
The rain was so intense partly because the Mediterranean was unusually warm after a hot summer, loading the air above it with moisture. Warmer seas mean more evaporation and heavier downpours, and scientific studies afterwards concluded that climate change had made rainfall of this intensity in the region more likely.
Building on a dry flood plain
The hills inland drain towards the coast through riverbeds that are dry for most of the year. Decades of development placed homes, industrial estates and roads across this flood plain. When a year's rain arrived in 8 hours, the water followed its old paths straight through the middle of towns full of people and cars.
Effects
Primary
- 229 people died in the Valencia region, with 237 deaths across Spain in total.
- Flash floods destroyed roads, bridges and rail lines and piled thousands of cars in the streets.
- Homes, garages and ground floors across towns such as Paiporta filled with water and mud in minutes.
- Thousands of hectares of farmland were left under water and mud.
Secondary
- Many neighbourhoods lost electricity, running water and phone coverage for days.
- Mud and wrecked vehicles blocked streets for weeks, slowing rescue and supply work.
- Commuter rail lines into Valencia stayed closed for months, cutting people off from work.
Social
- Grief turned to anger over the late phone alert, and mass protests demanded resignations.
- Thousands of volunteers walked into the flooded towns with shovels to help strangers.
- Many victims were older residents caught in ground floor homes and garages.
Economic
- Damage ran into tens of billions of euros across homes, businesses and infrastructure.
- Farming in one of Spain's most productive regions lost harvests, greenhouses and machinery.
- Small businesses lost stock and premises weeks before the Christmas season.
Environmental
- Rivers and the Albufera wetland received huge loads of mud, sewage and chemicals.
- Debris and thousands of ruined vehicles had to be collected and scrapped.
- Erosion and sediment reshaped the dry riverbeds that carried the flood.
Responses
Immediate
- More than 4,500 people were rescued by police and emergency services.
- 1,700 soldiers from Spain's emergency units were deployed, with thousands more following within days.
- Volunteers delivered food and water and shovelled mud from homes and streets.
- Extra police were sent to prevent looting and manage access into the flood zone.
Long term
- Spain approved billions of euros in aid and reconstruction funding for the region.
- Rail lines, bridges and flood defences were rebuilt over the following year.
- An inquiry examined the warning failures, and the regional president later resigned.
- Plans were drawn up to improve drainage and limit building in the highest risk areas.
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