The storms concentrated over the Magro, Turia and the Poyo river basins, releasing torrents of muddy water that turned village streets into rivers, destroyed homes and swept away bridges and vehicles. Over 200 people have lost their lives with thousands displaced and many still missing. Valencia’s coastal region was particularly hard-hit, receiving a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours, according to Spain’s national weather agency, Aemet.

Aemet reported that the extreme rainfall resulted from a high-altitude, low-pressure weather system isolated from the jet stream. Known locally as DANA, these storm systems form when cold fronts encounter warm, humid air masses, such as over the Mediterranean Sea. The storms can remain stationary before dissipating, increasing the potential for severe flooding.

Earth observation imagery and data are an important resource for emergency services, providing crucial information for near real-time response, post-event analysis and damage assessment. US Landsat-8 satellite images captured on 30 October were the first to illustrate the scale of the disaster, showing the drastic transformation of the landscape.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 images below show the scale of the Valencia flooding disaster and the drastic transformation of the landscape.