News I live in Valencia, Spain, where flooding has taken over 100 lives. I can hardly believe what\’s happened here. As told to Thibault Spirlet 2024-11-01T15:39:11Z Share icon An curved arrow pointing right. Share Facebook Icon The letter F. Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email. Email Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. Twitter LinkedIn icon LinkedIn Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link Save Article Icon A bookmark Save Read in app Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Jesús Lucero Ezquerro says he saw Valencia\’s streets covered in water and mud. Courtesy of Jesús Lucero Ezquerro This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in . Jesús Lucero Ezquerro, who lives in Valencia, was in disbelief when he saw the damage from floods. He said people in the path of the waters got little advance warning. Ezquerro said his city was caught off guard compared to how US states prepare for extreme weather. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you\’re on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking \”unsubscribe\” at the bottom of the email. Advertisement This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jesús Lucero Ezquerro, 28, who lives in the Poblats Marítims district of Valencia, Spain. The region has been ravaged by flash floods . Ezquerro spoke to BI on Thursday. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I\’ve lived in Valencia for four years. Everything seemed normal on Monday — literally, nothing happened. But at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, things started getting ugly in most of the province. It was starting to rain and get very windy. Advertisement Around 7:30 p.m., we started getting texts from local authorities alerting us of heavy rains and urging us to stay home. I said to myself: \”Holy cow! But it\’s not raining here.\” I\’m north of the river Turia in Valencia, so I wasn\’t affected and it hardly rained. I was shocked and alarmed by the images I started seeing on social media of people south of the river. People stuck in trees , people being pulled from a torrent by rope , people screaming. I didn\’t have a car or any vehicle when the storm hit, so I couldn\’t do anything but stay put. I wasn\’t scared as I don\’t have a business to worry about and live on the fifth floor of my building. Advertisement But I was and still am worried about those affected and the innocent lives being lost. By the time the alerts came, the storm had already hit. Back to the Middle Ages The next day, a friend and I biked to see the damage in southern Valencia, the area most affected by the storm. The metropolitan transport system had collapsed, the subways were flooded, and the buses could not access some areas. Before even reaching the area, we saw trucks and cars crowded on the road south of the river alike fallen dominoes. Advertisement Cars were on top of each other, says Jesús Lucero Ezquerro, as he discovered the damage left by the storm in Valencia. Courtesy of Jesús Lucero Ezquerro The streets were full of dirt, covered with mud and water. People to the south of the river had no power or signal. It was like going back to the Middle Ages. We also helped a group of young people clear a sidewalk. We were up to our eyebrows in mud. The police were there, but there were hardly any other emergency services in the area, as they were rescuing people who were at risk. Friends have lost their cars. Some have garages full of water and mud that they are cleaning. I don\’t know anyone close to me who died. Advertisement We returned home in a state of shock, taking it all in. Jesús Lucero Ezquerro said he and his friends helped clear the streets of Valencia. Courtesy of Jesús Lucero Ezquerro Left behind I am frustrated and angry. Related stories I have a background in marine environmental emergencies and forest fire management, and I now work for a company on a firebreak management and forest fire prevention project. So, I\’m not a firefighter or a member of the military, but I\’ve worked on environmental emergencies from an intelligence-gathering point of view. Advertisement I know how to evacuate people, how to manage populations, and how to manage adverse situations. But that did not happen in Valencia. Worse than Hurricane Milton I remember watching the news of Hurricane Milton hitting Florida last month and how Floridians were preparing for it. Residents boarded up their windows with large wooden panels; store owners were getting ready for it, and people evacuated. The Tampa mayor even urged people to leave and said that anyone who stayed would die. Advertisement After Hurricane Milton, there were at least 16 deaths. Meanwhile, here in Valencia, it\’s already about 10 times as many. The Spanish Meteorological Agency had issued an alert days before the storm. But on Tuesday, nothing happened. There was absolute calm in the morning. People were going to work and to university. When the local alerts came, the storm was already happening. A wake-up call Undoubtedly, human errors were made. I\’ve never seen anything like it. In a country like Spain, with the means, agencies, and intelligence we have, it is horrible that this happened. Advertisement At a certain point, authorities were saying 50 dead, then 60, then 70, then 90. To me, that doesn\’t sound like much. I believe that when the waters recede and the mud clears, more dead bodies will be found. Read next as told to Advertisement Close icon Two crossed lines that form an \’X\’. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.