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Spain mounts biggest peacetime disaster recovery operation as death toll reaches 214

Valencian regional authorities said on Saturday night the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

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The deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history have killed at least 214 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.

In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed, Reuters reported.

"It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime," Sanchez said. "The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed."

Valencian regional authorities said on Saturday night the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.

The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.

Hopes of finding survivors were raised when rescuers found a woman alive after three days trapped in a car park in Montcada, Valencia. Residents burst into applause when civil protection chief Martin Perez announced the news.

Volunteers flocked to Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences centre on Saturday for the first coordinated clean-up organised by regional authorities. The venue has been turned into the nerve centre for the operation, read the report.

In Valencia's Picanya suburb, shop-owner Emilia, 74, told Reuters on Saturday: "We feel abandoned, there are many people who need help. It is not only my house, it's all the houses and we are throwing away furniture, we are throwing away everything.

"When is the help going to come to have fridges and washing machines? Because we can't even wash our clothes and we can't even have a shower."

Nurse Maria Jose Gilabert, 52, who also lives in Picanya, said: "We are devastated because there is not much light to be seen here at the moment, not because they are not coming to help, they are coming from all over Spain, but because it will be a long time before this becomes a habitable area again."

The storm triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe, and elsewhere, due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe, Reuters reported.

Climate Change

EU pledges €15 million to WFP to help mitigate climate crisis impact on Afghans

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a €15 million (US$15.8 million) contribution from the European Union (EU) for its climate related activities in Afghanistan.

According to a statement issued by the EU on Thursday, this contribution will help local communities prepare for natural disasters and face the devastating effects of climate change, and support farmers for more productive and sustainable agriculture.

So far this year, more than 160,000 people have been affected by flooding in Afghanistan. Floods have destroyed almost 20,000 homes, and thousands of hectares of agricultural land.

“The European Union is committed to assisting the people of Afghanistan in adapting to climate change, which is severely threatening food security and livelihoods notably of rural communities, said the EU Chargée d’Affaires to in Afghanistan, Veronika Boskovic Pohar.

“Climate-related shocks also exacerbate host communities’ capacity to support internally displaced people and returnees from neighboring countries, and they discourage farmers in poppy-cultivating areas from sustainably shifting to licit crops.

“This latest contribution increases the European Union’s steady support to WFP’s resilience programme in Afghanistan to a total EUR 85.1 million since 2022”, she said.

Harald Mannhardt, WFP Deputy Country Director in Afghanistan, said: “This latest funding from the European Union comes at a critical moment as WFP earlier this year was forced to halt projects across the country due to a massive funding shortfall.”

Afghanistan is currently ranked seventh on the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index of countries most vulnerable and least prepared to adapt to climate change.

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Climate Change

Malaysia records six months of rain in just five days

One of the worst hit areas was Kelantan which recorded 1,442mm of rain between November 26 and 30

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Six months worth of Malaysia’s average annual rainfall fell within five days across the east coast of the country last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said early Tuesday. 

One of the worst hit areas was Kelantan which recorded 1,442mm of rain between November 26 and 30.

Ibrahim said the high rainfall led to flooding that forced a large number of people in Kelantan and Terengganu to be evacuated.

The recorded rainfall at Irrigation and Drainage Department stations in Tanah Merah and Tumpat, exceeded 1,167mm in just five days.

“According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), the reading (in Kelantan) was at 1,442mm, an extraordinarily high level of rainfall. In Terengganu, MetMalaysia’s Besut station recorded 1,761mm of rain during the same period.

“Overall, the (average) rainfall was 1,349mm, far beyond our expectations,” Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) on Tuesday. 

He also said the government is preparing for the forecast monsoon surge as announced by MetMalaysia, expected to start after Dec 8.

By Tuesday, some residents in the town of Tumpat were returning to submerged homes and shops as deadly floodwaters eased in some areas.

People who returned to their homes found many had collapsed, with parts of walls, roofs and broken furniture lying scattered in pools of water.

Muhamad Alim, a 56-year-old shopkeeper whose food store was inundated, recalled fast-rising waters in his home and his grandchildren crying as the flood surged on Saturday night.

"Electricity was cut off, and there was no water supply. So, we were stuck, sitting there as if we were in the middle of the sea, surrounded by water," he told Reuters.

"You could hear the sound of water rushing cutting through the silence of the night."

Six people have died in Malaysia and more than 150,000 were evacuated during the height of the floods last week, government data showed.

In Thailand, the death toll is 25, and more than 300,000 households were still affected, the interior ministry said.

The number of people in temporary shelters in Malaysia fell to just under 95,000 on Tuesday morning, though the authorities remain on guard for a second wave of floods this week.

Malaysia's Meteorological Department expects a wind convergence to begin on Tuesday, potentially bringing heavy showers, with a monsoon surge to follow on Dec. 8.

In Thailand, the Meteorological Department warned people in the south of the country to beware of heavy to very heavy rains and possible flash flooding and overflows from Dec. 3-5.

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Climate Change

Malaysia and Thailand brace for second wave of heavy rain and possible flooding

Authorities say these have been the worst floods in decades, resulting in the death of at least 27 people across the two countries. 

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Malaysia and Thailand are facing a second wave of heavy rain and potential flooding this week, authorities said Monday following days of torrential rain that caused massive flooding in northern Malaysia and southern Thailand. 

Authorities say these have been the worst floods in decades, resulting in the death of at least 27 people across the two countries. 

Malaysia alone was forced to evacuate over 150,000 people on Sunday and rivers burst their banks and water levels steadily increased. 

By Monday, authorities said the immediate situation had improved in some areas and water levels had eased but weather experts warned that more rain and possible floods were forecast again for Wednesday. 

The northeastern state of Kelantan, which has been the worst hit, was also expected to face a fresh deluge from Wednesday, December 4.

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