THE death toll from the flash floods in Spain rose to at least 205 today, with many more feared missing after what is now the country’s deadliest natural disaster.

Streets remained blocked by vehicles and debris, trapping some residents in their homes, as torrential rain continued in certain areas.

A number of places were still without electricity, running water or phone connections yesterday.

“The situation is unbelievable. It’s a disaster and there is very little help,” said Emilio Cuartero, a resident of Masanasa near the city of Valencia.

“We need machinery, cranes, so that the sites can be accessed. We need a lot of help. And bread and water.”

In Chiva, residents cleared debris from mud-filled streets themselves.

The Valencian town received more rain in eight hours on Tuesday than had fallen in the preceding 20 months. Water overflowed a gully that crosses the town, tearing up roads and the walls of houses.

Mayor Amparo Fort told RNE radio that “entire houses have disappeared. We don’t know if there were people inside or not.”

At time of publishing, 205 bodies had been recovered — 202 in Valencia alone, two in the Castilla La Mancha region and one more in Andalusia.

Security forces and soldiers were searching for an unknown number of missing people, many feared to still be trapped in wrecked vehicles or flooded garages.

In Paiporta, where at least 62 people died, residents walked through thick mud to reach the city to Valencia to obtain supplies, while others from unaffected areas brought essential items to aid them.

More storms are expected, with rain alerts issued for Tarragona, Catalonia and parts of the Balearic Islands.

A resident of Alfarfar, one of the most affected towns in south Valencia, told state television station TVE: “This is a disaster. There are a lot of elderly people who don’t have medicine. There are children who don’t have food.

“We don’t have milk, we don’t have water. We have no access to anything. No-one even came to warn us on the first day.”

Alfafar Mayor Juan Ramon Adsuara protested that the aid was not nearly enough for residents trapped in an “extreme situation.”

He said: “There are people living with corpses at home.

“It’s very sad. We are organising ourselves, but we are running out of everything.”

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is accustomed to autumn storms, but this week’s rainfall resulted in the most severe flash flooding in recent memory.

According to a partial analysis by World Weather Attribution, human-caused climate change has doubled the likelihood of a storm of this magnitude.

Spain’s recent two-year drought worsened the flooding, as the hardened, dry ground was unable to absorb the heavy rains.