At least 51 people, including 4 children, are the latest tragic toll from the flash floods that hit the province of Valencia in southeastern Spain last night.

Entire towns and villages were “drowned” by the rushing waters, which carried away everything in their path, and with the light of day the biblical disaster was revealed.

“We are facing an unprecedented situation, which no one has seen before,” Valencia regional chief Carlos Mathon said today, stressing that some people are still isolated in inaccessible areas.

See photos

“The provisional number of dead is 51 people. The bodies are still being recovered and identified,” regional emergency services told X.

The central government has set up a crisis response unit, which met for the first time last night and sent an army unit specialized in rescue operations to Valencia.

More than 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units have been deployed to the affected areas.

Agony for the missing

The authorities had announced yesterday, Tuesday, that seven people were missing, including one in L’Alcudia in Valencia and six in the town of Letour, in the neighboring province of Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha), where buildings, roads were flooded and the torrential waters swept away cars.

The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has announced that the “cold drop” weather phenomenon will continue in heavy rain until tomorrow, Thursday, and has declared a red alert in Valencia and the second highest alert in parts of Andalusia.