Heavy rains in eastern Spain led to deadly and destructive flash floods in the province of Valencia. More than 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain fell in parts of the province on October 29, 2024, Spanish weather agency AEMET reported. Nearly 500 millimeters (20 inches) fell in the city of Chiva in 8 hours.

The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image (right) showing widespread flooding of urban and agricultural land in and around the coastal city of Valencia on October 30, which flows into the Balearic Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea) and coastal wetlands from L'Albufera south of the city. For comparison, the image on the left, also taken by Landsat 8, shows the same area at the end of October 2022. (More recent Landsat images of the region were cloudy or unsuitable for image comparison for other reasons.)

According to AEMET, the rainfall came from a high-altitude low-pressure weather system isolated from the jet stream. These storm systems are known locally by the Spanish acronym DANA or more commonly as cut-off lows. They arise where cold fronts meet warm, moist air masses, for example over the Mediterranean. The storms may remain relatively stationary before dissipating, increasing their flooding potential.

News outlets reported on October 30 that around 100 people – including at least 40 in the town of Paiporta – died in the flooding and others remained missing. Infrastructure such as roads, bridges and railways have been damaged, and photos show displaced vehicles and debris filling city streets. A military emergency unit deployed more than 1,100 personnel to support rescue operations in the area.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin using US Geological Survey Landsat data. Story by Lindsey Doermann.