Survivors of the worst natural disaster hit Spain this century woke up to scenes of devastation on Thursday after villages were wiped out by a monstrous lightning bolt floods which cost the lives of at least 95 people.

The death toll may rise as search efforts continue and an unknown number of people remain missing.

The consequences were eerily similar to the damage caused by a violent hurricane or tsunami.

Wrecked vehicles, tree branches, downed power lines and household items, all covered in a layer of mud, covered the streets of Utiel, one of dozens of towns in the hard-hit Valencia region , where 92 people died between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. .

Walls of rushing water transformed narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that swept over the ground floors of homes and swept away cars, people and everything in their path.

“The neighborhood is destroyed, all the cars are on top of each other, it’s literally destroyed,” said Christian Viena, owner of a bar in the Valencian village of Barrio de la Torre.

Regional authorities said late Wednesday that there were no people left stranded on rooftops or in cars needing rescue after helicopters rescued some 70 people.

But ground crews and citizens continued to inspect vehicles and homes damaged by the onslaught of water.

More than a thousand soldiers from Spain’s emergency rescue units joined regional and local rescue workers to search for bodies and survivors.

( ‘The whole of Spain cries with you’: at least 95 dead and many missing as flash floods hit Valencia regionOpens in a new window )

The defense minister said soldiers alone recovered 22 bodies and rescued 110 people as of Wednesday evening.

“We are searching house by house,” Angel Martinez, head of a military emergency unit, told Spanish national radio RNE on Thursday from the town of Utiel, where at least six people died.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is traveling to the region to see the destruction firsthand as the country begins a three-day period of official mourning.

Thousands of people were left without water or electricity and hundreds were left stranded after their cars were destroyed or roads were blocked.

The region remained partly isolated with several roads cut and train lines disrupted, including high-speed service to Madrid, which authorities say will not be repaired for several days.

While Valencia was worst hit by the storm, two other casualties were reported in the neighboring region of Castilla La Mancha. Southern Andalusia reported one death.

The relative calm of the next day also provided time to reflect and wonder whether authorities could have done more to save lives.

The regional government is criticized for only sending flood alerts to people’s cell phones at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when flooding had already started in some areas.

The Spanish Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms which can cause flooding. But it was the most powerful flash flood in recent memory.

Scientists associate it with climate changewhich is also causing increasingly high temperatures and droughts in Spain and warming of the Mediterranean Sea. –AP