A family had just started their half-term holiday at their Spanish villa when a storm began. But it did not stop, and with more than a year’s worth of rainfall in just eight hours on Wednesday, it was “like a tsunami coming down a mountain” and through their house.
Diana Whitwell, 60, from Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, had just picked up her daughters and grandchildren from Valencia’s airport on Tuesday when an electrical storm started – and then the rain came, flooding into the house.
More than 200 people have died in the flash floods that struck the south-east of the country.
The Whitwell family are currently mopping up and trying to dry out their holiday home, but having seen first-hand the death toll and devastation, Mrs Whitwell said: “Yes, we’re a bit stranded, but at least we are safe – and our family is together.”
Spain’s civil protection agency, overseen by the regional government, issued an emergency alert to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, by which time the flood water was swiftly rising in many areas and in some cases already wreaking havoc.
The Whitwell family has owned their villa – a detached Spanish hillside finca about 22km (14 miles) from Valencia – for 19 years.
“We’re used to storms – they usually last about 20 minutes,” said Mrs Whitwell, who works as a healthcare assistant at Peterborough City Hospital.
But on Tuesday night, the rain was preceded by a seven-hour electrical storm.
“The grandchildren – aged between eight and 14 – were watching it from the window. They were mesmerised.
“And then the skies just opened.
“It went from nothing to rain like you’ve never seen before – like a tsunami down the mountain.”
As the water rose on the terrace, the family initially tried to sweep it off down the slope, but then it started penetrating rooms at the rear.
“We tried to sweep it out, but it was no use,” she said.
They put the children on the top bunk of a bed as the power went out.
“We had four grandkids in hysterics – they were terrified in the pitch black – we didn’t have candles to hand as we hadn’t anticipated anything like this,” said Mrs Whitwell.
“It was horrendous.”
They had no electricity, no phone signal, and no running water.
The family stayed put in the house, with water past their ankles.
“We couldn’t get out as many of the roads had collapsed,” said Mrs Whitwell.
On Thursday, they decided to try getting to a shop for provisions, and while they managed to get there, the shelves were almost empty.
“We managed to get three pizzas to have between the eight of us – there was no bread, water, milk – almost nothing.
“Then we got stuck for more than five hours on the motorway – and we were only two miles from home.”
Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Mrs Whitwell said there was now “intermittent electricity and some phone signal” but a lot of half-cooked food, such as chicken, had to be thrown out when the power did not return.
“Luckily, my husband and I drove over so we had canned food and cereal for the kiddies – that’s what they’re surviving on just now.”
That morning she said she and her daughters walked across a collapsed road and down the opposite mountain to get water from a spring.
“We knew it was there, and of course it was overflowing – we brought back three big bottles of water – it was the only way to get water.”
Their beloved Spanish home is still drying out, but the damage was limited, Mrs Whitwell said.
“I’m a very positive person, and I try to make something good from anything negative.”
She said if the wifi signal lasted, they “might try a bit of karaoke tonight on the iPad”.
“The really sad thing, though, is that the motorway is still not moving – hundreds of cars are stuck, and there are emergency services trying to get to Valencia. They just physically can’t get through because of landslides across the A3, which is the Valencia to Madrid road.”
The family hoped some roads would be open by Monday when the children need to fly back for school, but the Whitwells will be staying on.
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