At least 51 people have died as a result of the floods in the Spanish province of Valencia, according to the Integrated Operational Coordination Center of the Ministry of Interior, which compiles information from various security and emergency agencies. 

Early in the day, Valenciana authorities discussed “multiple victims” but could not confirm an exact number.

Dozens of individuals spent Tuesday night in Valencia in trucks or cars, climbing onto the roofs of stores or gas stations, seeking refuge on bridges, or trapped in their vehicles on impassable roads until they were rescued. 

Many are still awaiting assistance from emergency services.

Storm Forecast
Valid: Tue 29 Oct 2024 06:00 to Wed 30 Oct 2024 06:00 UTC
Issued: Mon 28 Oct 2024 22:35
Forecaster: PUCIK

A level 2 was issued across E Spain mainly for heavy rainfall, large to very large hail and tornadoes.

A level 1 was issued across S - Central Spain mainly for heavy rainfall, large hail and tornadoes.

DISCUSSION

... Spain ...

A deep low at mid to upper troposphere is forecast to move from N Africa to SE Spain. This will result in a passage of a pronounced exit region of a cyclonically curved jet in the afternoon to early night hours across E Spain. Models show continuous warm air advection regime across the area from the Balearic Sea almost during the whole forecast period. Combined with an onshore/upslope easterly flow towards the higher terrain, many hours of storm activity are likely, starting in the night from Monday to Tuesday and persisting till Wednesday. Storms will be fed by a pool of high CAPE over the Balearic Sea, where an elevated mixed layer has been advected from Sahara. CAPE will be the highest at the E coastline of Spain, decreasing inland.

Widespread storms are forecast to initiate in the highlighted area. Storm coverage may vary a bit during the day.

The technology’s ability to forecast floods is limited by the poor quality of data and the irregular behavior of weather events such as a DANA

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already capable of identifying tumors from thousands of images, performing precise surgical operations, discovering new antibiotics and proteins, analyzing market trends, and optimizing industrial processes, among numerous other applications. Yet, when it comes to adverse phenomena like floods — the most destructive natural disasters after earthquakes and tsunamis — its technological prowess falls short.

Over the past two decades, floods have impacted 2.5 billion people, claimed the lives of a quarter of a million individuals, and caused an estimated $936 billion in damages, according to the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) from the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels. Despite the focus of technological giants and global institutions, developments to predict and mitigate floods remain ineffective. Why is that the case?

“Existing climate models aren’t very good for certain extreme weather events, Heatwaves in Europe are, for example, increasing much faster in the real world compared to what the models tell us should happen,” Dim Coumou, a climate expert at the University of Amsterdam, told Horizon magazine. “It’s important to forecast extremes so we can have early warnings.”