Spain floods: Valencia-Madrid HS line cut for up to 3 weeks, commuter rail ‘completely destroyed’ – Puente

Spain is still reeling from its worst flash floods in decades, with at least 158 people confirmed dead. Meanwhile infrastructure, particularly in the region of Valencia, has been devastated after more than a year’s worth of rainfall fell in just eight hours in some parts of the country. Transport Minister Óscar Puente said that due to the extensive damages, the high-speed line between Valencia and Madrid would be unavailable for at least two or three weeks, “but the situation with the commuter trains is much more serious.” With some lines “completely destroyed” and storms still forecast, the recovery and repair effort continues to prove difficult, and in many cases harrowing. As Puente said yesterday in his first presser on the floods, there are still cars carried away by the flash floods with their owners’ bodies trapped inside.