Intensive rainfall in eastern Spain caused deadly and devastating flash floods in the province of Valencia. On October 29, 2024, more than 300 millimeters of rain fell in parts of the province, the Spanish meteorological agency AEMET reported. In the city of Chiva, almost 500 millimeters (20 inches) fell in eight hours.

The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image (right), showing widespread flooding of urban and agricultural lands in and around the coastal city of Valencia on October 30. Sediment-laden floods also filled the channel of the Turia River, which flows into the Balearic Islands (part of the Mediterranean Sea) and the coastal wetlands of L’Albufera south of the city. For comparison, the image on the left, also acquired by Landsat 8, shows the same area in late October 2022. (More recent Landsat scenes of the region have been cloudy or otherwise unsuitable for an image comparison.)

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

News media reported on October 30 that about 100 people – including at least 40 in the town of Paiporta – died in the floods, and more were missing. Infrastructure such as roads, bridges and rail lines suffered damage, and photos show displaced vehicles and debris filling city streets. A military emergency unit has deployed more than 1,100 men to support rescue operations in the region.

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