Most surprising moments from Spain’s flood catastrophe caught on digicam: Lorry is overturned in torrential downpour, girl is airlifted from deep water together with her canine and bridge is swept away in apocalyptic scenes

The worst flash floods to strike eastern and southern Spain in recent memory have left at least 72 people dead after a year’s worth of rain fell in just eight hours, with videos of apocalyptic scenes spreading quickly online.

The rain has caused streams to burst their banks, leaving homes, roads and railways submerged while devastating people’s homes. The storms turned streets into rivers and left hundreds trapped, with many forced to climb trees, scale lampposts and sprint desperately to the upper floors of buildings to escape. 

Entire towns were plunged underwater while partially submerged cars were piled up at awkward angles after the surge battered them into buildings.

Several terrifying videos and pictures have been shared of the havoc caused by the rainstorms that started on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, from muddy torrents turning sweeping people down streets turned rivers and vehicles being overturned by strong winds.

One horrific clip shows the dramatic moment a lorry overturned while it drove down a wind-battered road in Carlet, near Valencia. 

A driver, filming from the inside of another lorry, can be heard saying: ‘A hurricane, a hurricane! Look at that. The lorries in front of me have overturned.’ 

Another heart-pounding clip showed a woman battling desperately to stay afloat as she tried to save her dog from their flooded home. Rescuers just managed to reach her before her head slipped below the water and winched her to safety.

A third video revealed the moment flash flooding destroyed Paiporta bridge in the municipality of Valencia late last night as the river beneath overflowed and continued to rise, battering the buttresses until the concrete structure crumbled into the deluge. 

Horrified onlookers screamed as the bridge suddenly collapsed and folded itself into the surging waters.

Its streetlamps were seen flickering briefly before they were abruptly extinguished and lost beneath the raging floods. 

Meanwhile, a chilling clip revealed the moment a helpless woman was swept away by unstoppable flood waters in Valencia.

The unidentified victim could be heard screaming as the deluge pushed her down a waterlogged street. 

Horrified onlookers stood on balconies above stretched out their arms in a futile attempt to come to her rescue in the chilling clip.

For a moment it looked as though she was going to save herself by grabbing onto a lamppost – but the flood waters were too powerful and she was torn away from the pole before being swept away, her fate unknown.

In the town of Massannassa on Valencia’s outskirts, heartbreaking footage shows elderly and sickly residents of a nursing home sat in wheelchairs as filthy floodwater pooled around their knees. 

A woman also shared a video of the inside of her flooded house, which shows her feet submerged, as her dogs splash around in a pool of water.

Video footage also showed cars bobbing in brown water as they were dragged down a stream, while another clip showed scores of cars piled up on top of each other on the roads. 

Other clips captured debris flying around after it was picked up by brutal winds. 

The death toll is expected to rise sharply as emergency services continue their searches for dozens of people said to be still unaccounted for in what is one of the nation’s worst-ever natural disasters.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez this morning sought to reassure victims that the government ‘would not abandon’ them.

‘All of Spain weeps with all of you. Our absolute priority is to help you… We won’t abandon you,’ Sanchez said in a televised address.

‘For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you,’ Sanchez added, vowing to ‘rebuild your streets, your squares, your bridges’. 

Spain’s government announced the creation of a crisis committee – the equivalent of Britain’s Cobra emergency response committee – as the size of the disaster became apparent.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles said earlier this morning more than 1,000 members of the Military Emergencies Unit UME, a branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, had been mobilised to help with rescue efforts in Valencia province. 

Spain has experienced similar autumn storms in recent years, but nothing compared to the devastation over the last two days.

It is the worst flood-related catastrophe in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died and 180 were injured in a flash flood near Biesca in the Pyrenees.

The worst-hit areas are the province of Valencia where political leader Carlos Mazon first went public with news of ‘several fatalities’ in the early hours of this morning and the small town of Letur in the province of Albacete where six people including two council workers are said to be missing after a river burst its banks.

Two Civil Guard officers are feared to be among the fatalities after becoming trapped in a flooded basement in their police station in Paiporta near the city of Valencia, the capital of the province of the same name.

Spain’s King Felipe VI said he was ‘devastated’ by the floods and the rising death tolls. 

The royal palace wrote on X that the royal family was ‘devastated by the latest news’ about the storm that has lashed eastern and southern Spain this week, offering ‘our heartfelt condolences’ to families of the victims.

Twelve flights due to land at Valencia airport were diverted to other cities in Spain due to the heavy rain and strong winds, Spanish airport operator Aena said.

Another 10 flights which were due to depart or arrive at the airport were cancelled.

National rail infrastructure operator ADIF said it had suspended high-speed trains between Madrid and the eastern port of Valencia due to the effects of the storm on main points of the rail network’ in the Valencia region until ‘at least’ 10am on Wednesday.

A high-speed train with 276 passengers derailed in the southern region of Andalusia, although no one was injured, the regional government said in a statement.

Emergency services rescued scores of people in Alora in Andalusia, some by helicopter, after a river overflowed.

State weather agency AEMET declared a red alert in the Valencia region and the second-highest level of alert in parts of Andalusia. 

Several roads were cut in both regions due to flooding.

Elsewhere, in the Spanish city of Almería cars have been destroyed by giant golf ball-sized hailstones that fell from the sky as a violent storm passed over last night. 

The ferocious hailstorm caused havoc as it swept over the southern Spanish city which also suffered flooding from freak rainfall. 

Photos and videos shared to social media showed the large hailstones damaging car windshields and windows with severe dents and chips left in metal and paintwork. 

Other videos and pictures showed the aftermath of the storm, with one showing nearly a dozen large holes in the rear window of an Almería resident’s car. 

On top of the hail, the city was flooded, with 100mm of rain falling in 12 hours. At its heaviest, 30mm of rain fell in a single hour. 

The hailstorm’s size and severity was the result of stormclouds that have been plaguing the region for days. 

Yesterday Dólar, in Granada, was inundated with 148 mm of rain, while Caravaca de la Cruz, in Murcia, had 104 mm pour down and Carcaixent, in Valencia, was hit with 85.8 mm. 

It comes just a few months after British holidaymakers hoping to leave behind the rain by heading to Spain were met with torrential downpours, hail, strong winds and flash floods.

Images from Costa Blanca showed submerged streets, overflowing rivers, and fast-moving water barrelling across dry fields before crashing onto highways in June. 

Hail stones fell in some parts of the Valencian community, which includes the provinces of Alicante and Valencia.

Further south in Murcia roads turned into raging torrents. 

In its capital city locals and tourists were pictured ankle-deep in water in its main street as they tried to negotiate their way past shops while others took refuge inside.

Elsewhere in the province cars were seen and wheelie bins were seen ‘swimming’ down streets which looked more like rivers. Firefighters were said to be ‘working tirelessly’ with roads closed in some places. 

By contrast, British holidaymakers on the Costa del Sol were today basking in glorious sunshine.

In Marbella, tourists were topping up their tans under blue skies in 26 degrees Celsius temperatures (78 degrees Fahrenheit).

It made a welcome break for those who had just flown in from the UK.

Office worker Sally Jones, 26, said: ‘I was in desperate need of sunshine. The weather’s been really gloomy back home.

‘I’ve got friends who are on the Costa Blanca right now and are saying they wished they’d come on holiday with me instead.’