At least 72 people have died in eastern Spain after flash floods swept away cars, turned village streets into rivers and disrupted rail lines and highways in the worst natural disaster to hit the European nation in recent memory.

Rainstorms that started on Tuesday and continued overnight caused flooding in a wide swathe of southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia. Muddy torrents tumbled vehicles down streets at high speeds, while pieces of wood swirled in the water with household items. Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers trapped on the roofs of cars.

Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed a death toll of 62 people on Wednesday. Another two casualties were reported in the neighbouring Castilla La Mancha region.

Searchers worked to find survivors and victims, with countless numbers still missing. Spain’s government said it will declare three days of mourning for dead from devastating flash floods starting on Thursday.

“For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain,” Sánchez said in a televised address. “Our priority is to help you. We are putting all the resources necessary so that we can recover from this tragedy.”

Authorities reported several missing people late on Tuesday, but the following morning brought the shocking announcement of dozens found dead.

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Ricardo Gabaldón, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE. He said six residents of his town had perished and several more were unaccounted for.

“We were trapped like rats. Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets. The water was rising to 3 metres,” he said.

Over 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units were deployed to the devastated areas. Rescue services were also rushing eastwards from other parts of Spain. Spain’s central government set up a crisis committee to help coordinate rescue efforts.

The elderly were the most vulnerable. RTVE showed a video of a nursing home with several seniors in chairs and wheelchairs with waters rising over their knees as staff struggled to ensure their safety. Elsewhere, an elderly couple were rescued from the upper storey of their house by a military unit using a bulldozer, with three soldiers accompanying them in the huge shovel.

Television reports showed videos shot by panicked residents documenting waters flooding the ground floors of apartment buildings, streams bursting their banks and bridges giving way. People could be heard gasping as they pointed to what they feared to be bodies bobbing in the swift brown flood.

Spain’s national weather service called the rainfall “extraordinary”.

AP