Torrential Storm Adam Floods Valencia Coastline, Leaves Five Dead, Submerges Homes, Cuts Power

Valencia, Spain— Torrential rains from Storm Adam inundated the Valencia coastline on October 25, 2026, leaving five people dead and turning streets into rivers that swept cars and debris inland.

The national weather service AEMET said more than 250 millimeters fell in six hours around Gandia and Cullera, a month's rain in half a day. The Júcar and Turia tributaries overflowed. Storm drains failed. Seawater pushed back into low neighborhoods as river mouths choked.

Police confirmed five deaths: two in Oliva after a car was trapped in an underpass, one in Sueca when a wall collapsed, and two in rural areas near Xàtiva where floodwaters caught people outside. Three people were reported missing late Saturday, with search teams using drones.

More than 400 people were evacuated from ground floors and campsites along the coast. The military emergency unit UME deployed boats and high-clearance trucks. In Valencia city, metro lines 3 and 5 were suspended after tunnels flooded. The port closed to small vessels.

A resident in Gandia said, "Water entered to the waist in ten minutes. We put the elderly on tables." Shopkeepers stacked sandbags that were overtopped within an hour. Power was cut to 30,000 customers as substations were submerged.

Regional president Carlos Mazón activated the highest civil protection level and asked residents to stay home. Schools were ordered closed Monday. The central government in Madrid offered emergency funds and said it will declare a disaster zone if the damage assessment meets criteria.

Storm Adam, the first named Atlantic system to hit the Mediterranean this fall, was driven by a slow-moving cutoff low pulling moist air from the south. Meteorologists warned that such systems stall over eastern Spain and produce extreme totals on steep coastal slopes.

Agriculture took a heavy hit. Orange groves and rice fields around Albufera were under water. Early estimates from farm co-ops put losses in tens of millions of euros. Roads including the AP-7 were closed at multiple points by landslides and standing water.

Rain eased by evening but rivers remain high. Authorities told people not to return to basements and to avoid driving through flooded roads. The death toll may rise as crews reach isolated homes.