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After Deadly Floods, Spain Struggles With Epic Cleanup

In Valencia, residents still face food, water and energy shortages weeks after disaster struck.

Nearly a month after severe flooding, a person walks past a field where water-ravaged cars are piled up in Valencia, Spain on Nov. 28

Photographer: Reuters/Redux Pictures

When the floods came to Valencia, Spain, in October, Jose Andres Menchero managed to escape from his car as rainwater reached the steering wheel. He used an uprooted street light to help wade across the street, and came across a woman being dragged away by the raging torrent.

“I told her to cling to me,” says Menchero. “But she was holding a little dog and didn’t want to let go. The water washed her away. I heard nothing more about her.”