Spanish troops mobilized after the deadliest floods
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has ordered the country’s largest-ever peacetime military deployment to help deal with massive flooding. Another 5,000 troops have been drafted to deal with the aftermath of a tragedy that officials say...
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Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has ordered the country’s largest-ever peacetime military deployment to help deal with massive flooding. Another 5,000 troops have been drafted to deal with the aftermath of a tragedy that officials say killed at least 211 people in eastern, southern, and central regions.
By Stefan J. Bos
Political tensions
However, critics say his government has a poor record of compensating disaster victims. Many reportedly still await financial help after the longest and most damaging known volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma in 2021, which killed one person and cost some 843 million euros, about 917 million dollars.
However, the prime minister said that this time, his government helped coordinate the “largest deployment of armed forces and police personnel ever in Spain during peacetime.”
He stressed that 4,800 rescues occurred, and more than 30,000 people “were helped in their homes, on the roads, and in flooded industrial estates.”
Yet many more are still awaiting assistance, with authorities saying people remain missing after this week’s torrential rains and related storm system caused devastating flooding.
Crews have been working day and night to clean street debris and pump water from basements.
Amid the human suffering and misery, the Archbishop of hard-hit Valencia, Enrique Benavent, has appealed to Christians to “maintain faith and hope.”
With thousands of volunteers showing what he would view as Christian solidarity, residents in this flood-stricken region may soon be able to start rebuilding their lives.
