The death toll from flooding in Spain surpassed 200 as a temporary mortuary was opened in Valencia

ALFAFAR: Spanish rescuers opened a temporary mortuary at a convention center and struggled to reach areas still cut off on Friday as the flood death toll rose to 205 in Europe’s worst weather disaster in five decades.

Regional authorities said at least 202 people died in Valencia, the eastern region that suffered the worst damage. Three people died in Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.

The death toll is now almost equal to the 209 victims of heavy floods in Romania in 1970.

Floods in Portugal in 1967 killed almost 500 people.

About 500 troops have been deployed to search for people still missing and help survivors of the storm, which has triggered a new weather alert in Huelva in southwestern Spain.

The death toll is likely to continue rising, with dozens still unaccounted for, Angel Victor Torres, minister responsible for cooperation with Spain’s regions, said at a news conference late Thursday.

With about 75,000 homes still without power, firefighters pumped gasoline from cars abandoned during the floods into generators to restore national supplies.

“We go from car to car looking for gasoline,” said one firefighter who came to Valencia from the southern Andalusia region to help with rescue efforts, carrying plastic pipe and empty bottles to collect gasoline from car tanks.

A year’s worth of rain fell in just eight hours on Tuesday evening, destroying roads, railways and bridges as rivers burst their banks.