10,000 soldiers deployed to flood-affected areas in Spain
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 November 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has deployed 10,000 extra troops to the area of Valencia, where record-breaking floods have killed 211 people. It is the country's largest peacetime deployment of troops. We take a look at how environmental factors might have contributed to the disaster.
Also in the programme: a strike has injured a number of people at a polio vaccine clinic in Gaza City; and was the COP16 successful in setting out measures to protect biodiversity?
(Photo: army troops arrive in Utiel town, province of Valencia, eastern Spain. Credit: Alvaro Del Olmo / Shutterstock)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesb. |
| 0:09.7 | A huge salvage operation is underway in the Valencia region of eastern Spain following this week's |
| 0:16.2 | catastrophic flash floods. The Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he's deployed more than 10,000 |
| 0:22.4 | troops and extra police to help with the recovery and relief efforts. |
| 0:27.0 | In total, we're talking about the biggest deployment of emergency services in the army |
| 0:33.7 | that we've ever deployed in peacetime in our country. This deployment has already carried |
| 0:39.3 | out 4,800 rescues and helped over 30,000 people, rescuing them from roads, homes and flooded |
| 0:46.3 | industrial areas. Unfortunately, the scope of this disaster means that this is not enough. We know |
| 0:53.3 | that aid is taking time to reach certain locations. |
| 0:56.3 | There are still garages and homes that are blocked and people are still trapped. |
| 1:01.1 | The local authorities in the Valencia region have been criticised for not responding quickly enough |
| 1:07.1 | to weather warnings of potential large-scale flooding. |
| 1:15.1 | But local leader, Carlos Mathan, defended his team's response. |
| 1:19.4 | He said the emergency services had reacted straight away to the disaster. |
| 1:23.7 | I want to send a clear message to everyone. |
| 1:26.7 | We're going to reach all the homes, whatever it takes. |
| 1:28.6 | We're going to do it. We've been working to achieve it since the first moment of this catastrophe. Since the very first |
| 1:33.2 | moment, all emergency personnel available were working tirelessly from the very first moment. |
| 1:40.3 | Well, 211 people are known to have died, but there are fears that number could rise, as the number of people still missing is still unknown. |
| 1:51.5 | In some good news, though, a woman was rescued from her flooded car. She'd been there for at least three days without any assistance or supplies. |
| 2:00.3 | Thousands of people have been volunteering to help |
| 2:03.3 | clearing the streets and homes. Others have been collecting clothes and supplies for those |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.