Spanish emergency services intensified their search for missing people after deadly floods killed at least 219 people, according to Euractiv.
Seventeen space agencies and seven commercial data distributors will provide additional observations and analyses of the affected areas, with the research vessel Ramón Margalef from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (CSIC-IEO) involved. The government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that it would amend the EU-funded post-pandemic recovery plan to adapt it to the needs resulting from the Valencia disaster.
The idea, proposed on Wednesday by Finance Minister Carlos Cuerpo, is to redirect funds that are not being used to make necessary repairs and investments in the areas hardest hit by the floods. This week the Spanish government announced the first €10.6bn emergency aid package.
The provisional death toll from the devastating floods stands at 219 in the province of Valencia, plus five in Castilla-La Mancha, four in Letur, one in Mira and one in Andalusia. The number of officially registered missing persons in Valencia is 93.
Meanwhile, the Guardia Civil arrested 11 more people who had committed or were about to commit robberies over the past two nights in the industrial zones of L’Alcudia, Picanya and Catarroja affected by the hurricane. According to the General Directorate of the Civil Guard, 107 people have been arrested for looting.
The total number of arrests will rise to 186, according to the latest figures provided on Tuesday.