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At least 62 people have died in flash floods in southeastern Spain, the Valencia regional government said on Wednesday, with many people unable to reach safety as large amounts of rain flooded buildings and rendered highways unusable.

In some locations in southern and eastern Spain, up to 30 centimeters of rain fell in just a few hours on Tuesday.

Footage from the city of Valencia showed muddy water rushing through the streets, knocking down walls and sweeping away parked cars.

In towns near rivers such as Utiel or Paiporta, water poured into the streets, CNN en Español reported. Vans, cars and garbage bins were swept away by currents that in some cases reached the first floor of buildings.

The enormous amount of rain that fell caught many by surprise, with people trapped in their basements or on the first floor and unable to get to safety.

The region fell into a state of chaos, with most highways becoming completely unusable on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Vehicles left in traffic were picked up and moved by the water.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday his government will use all means necessary to help flood victims, as he asked people to remain vigilant.

Valencia regional leader Carlos Mazón told reporters earlier on Wednesday that some bodies were found as rescue teams began reaching areas previously cut off by the floods. He added: “Out of respect for the families, we will not be providing any further details.”

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles described the flooding as an “unprecedented phenomenon,” CNN en Español reported. Robles said more than 1,000 troops had been deployed to assist with rescue efforts.

The death toll is expected to rise as authorities said current figures are “provisional.”

Mazón also urged residents of the provinces of Valencia and Castellón not to travel by road.

Residents on Wednesday faced a major clean-up and search for bodies, as well as the threat of more rain showers.

A local resident of one of the affected towns, Antonio Carmona, described to CNN what happened when the floods hit. “When we looked past here, we saw everything going down. (The water) cost cars, it destroyed half of one of our neighbors’ houses.

Carmona pointed to his torn clothing and said he and others had rescued dogs affected by the floods.

A woman named Beatriz Garrote was driving home from work in the Valencia town of Torrent on Tuesday evening when she and other drivers were stuck for hours on a stretch of the ring road near rising waters, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.

“I passed the first exit, which was to Paiporta, but it was closed because they told us the town there was flooded and we couldn’t get out,” she said, El Pais reported. She said her car then became stuck “and suddenly the two lanes closest to the exit started flooding.”

She described feeling “very scared” as the water level rose rapidly. “I didn’t know where it came from or what happened. The water started to rise very quickly.

“After ten minutes he was halfway to the steering wheel of the car. One of the volunteers told us to turn the cars around, but there was no way out.”

The Valencia region averages 77 millimeters (3.03 in) of rain during the entire month of October.

According to the European Severe Weather Database, 320 millimeters of rain fell in just over four hours in Chiva, just east of Valencia.

Floods were also reported in and around the cities of Murcia and Malaga, with more than 100 millimeters of rain falling in some areas.

The man-made climate crisis is making extreme weather more common and severe, scientists say.

As the world warms due to fossil fuel pollution, the most intense rainstorms are becoming heavier and more frequent. Hotter oceans fuel stronger storms, and a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which it wrings out in the form of heavy rainfall.

According to the Spanish Meteorological Agency AEMET, rainfall warnings remain in force for parts of eastern and southern Spain until Wednesday, with the threat of heavy rain expected to continue until the end of the week.

CNN’s Antoinette Radford, Vasco Cotovio and Laura Paddison contributed to this report.

This is a developing story and has been updated.