Spain searches for bodies after flood of the century claims at least 140 lives

Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as people tried to salvage what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 140 lives.

Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as people tried to salvage what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 140 lives.

Spain's worst natural disaster this century left a trail of destruction and fears that more horrors will be uncovered from the ubiquitous layers of mud that walls of water left in their wake late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

An unknown number of people remain missing.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” said Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente.

The widespread damage recalled the aftermath of a hurricane or tsunami.

Cars piled on one another like fallen dominoes, uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in the hardest-hit region of Valencia, where at least 92 people died.

Rushing water turned narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that tore through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people and everything else in its path. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognizable.