Spain floods: at least 214 dead, 10,000 troops and police sent to Valencia

The deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history have killed at least 214 people, and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.

In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers and 5,000 police officers already deployed.

"It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime," Sanchez said. "The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed."

The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.

Almost all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.

Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages –  some of which have been cut off from food, water and power since Tuesday's torrent – is a priority.

The authorities have come under fire over the warning systems before the floods, and some affected residents have complained that the response to the disaster is too slow.

"I am aware the response is not enough; there are problems and severe shortages, towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives, we have to improve," Sanchez said.

The Spanish prime minister said electricity had been restored to 94 percent of homes affected by power outages and that around half of the cut telephone lines had been repaired.

Some motorways in the Valencia region have reopened, but local and regional roads resemble "Swiss cheese," which means certain places would probably remain inaccessible by land for weeks, Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais daily.

Spanish media reported that King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are due to visit the Valencia area with Sanchez and regional leader Carlos Mazon on Sunday.

Mazon called the floods "the worst moment in our history" on Saturday and laid out a series of proposals, ranging from infrastructure to economic support, to help his region recover.

The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.

But scientists warn that climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.

(With input from agencies)