"Heartbreaking" - Whittlesey family caught in fatal flash floods in Valencia, Spain recount terrifying moment flood waters rushed into their villa
“It’s heartbreaking. The children were terrified”
A Whittlesey couple and their family are currently stuck on roads in Valencia, Spain, after flood water inundated their villa.
Flash floods across the region, which began yesterday (Wednesday), are now though to have killed more than 150 people.
Diana Whitwell, her husband, two daughters and four grandchildren are currently caught up in the disaster with no-where to go.
They had been visiting the area for a family holiday.
Speaking to The Peterborough Telegraph from the roadside this afternoon, Diana said: “It’s heartbreaking. Our villa was like a river running through, the electric went off and children were terrified.
"Two days on, everyone still no electricity or phone signals. The only shops that are open have shelves that are bare.
"Roads everywhere have collapsed and major roads have closed.
"We managed to get enough food for two days, but now we are stuck in traffic and cannot get back to our property since police have closed the roads.”
The family are currently sitting on the roadside of a motorway with minimal phone signal. At the time of publication this afternoon (Thursday) they had been sat in their cars for five hours.
Thankfully, with their villa being located on a hill, they are hoping it will have escaped the worst damage.
Diana added: “The villas [pictured] are at the bottom of our hill. Our villa should be ok. There was always that fear of landslide, but we kept as calm as possible whilst bucketing hundreds of liters of water out the villa and trying to calm the grandchildren down. The walls of the road below have collapsed too.”
More on this story as we get it.