Spain floods a 'sudden, catastrophic experience for many'

The question of whether the Spanish population was alerted to the devastating floods on time or with sufficient gravity is becoming a real political issue.

The state weather agency issued a red alert on Tuesday morning, but the severity of what was coming was not really conveyed by that warning.

Now there's talk of revamping the whole alert system after the deaths of dozens of people.

The regional body that coordinates the emergency response was not convened until early evening on Tuesday.

The warning from the civil protection service not to leave home was only sent to mobile phones after that when many people had already left their homes and those are the ones who became trapped in their cars and unfortunately died.

It was a sudden and catastrophic experience for many, many people.

Today, the mourning starts and the rescue and recovery operation moves up a gear.

Police and firefighters have been joined by the military emergency unit and the Civil Guard to try and get to those villages and towns which have been inundated by mud.

The fear is that once they start clearing the mud, more bodies will be found.

However, some of these areas are extremely hard to get to because roads are blocked.

In some cases. the authorities are having to rely on helicopters to get to outlying villages and towns in the Valencia region.

The ministry of defence is providing portable morgues.

Travelling from the airport last night along the motorway towards Valencia there were dozens of upended lorries, cars, vans - even on a wide open motorway - so you can imagine the force and breadth of the water to cause that level of devastation.

The hotel I was due to stay in last night was knocked out of action before I got there so I had to find accommodation elsewhere.

The Valencia, Andulusia and Castile-La Mancha regions account for a huge percentage of Spain's citrus production which is a vital part of the economy.

Insurance agencies are preparing for the most expensive payout in Spanish history as a result of these floods.