British man feared for his life in Valencia floods as water gushed towards van

Jason Wass saw cars, petrol pumps and gas cylinders ‘flying over a wall’ in the flooding
A British man described the terrifying moment flood waters rushed towards his van in Valencia – and brought cars, petrol pumps and gas cyclinders “flying” over a wall.
Jason Wass, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, was on his way to deliver items on Monday evening when his van got caught in the deadly floods in eastern Spain. Authorities have now recovered 213 bodies.
Mr Wass realised something was wrong when his phone’s emergency alert went off while he was stuck in traffic near the Port of Valencia.
He told ITV News: “The alarm went off, the alert you get on your phones to say the storm was coming.
“But by that point, we were stuck on the motorway and couldn’t get off. We sat there for about 45 minutes.
“And then all of a sudden in front of us, the water started coming towards us. From the side, the water was coming from the village.
“It was bringing cars, petrol pumps, anything it could carry. And unfortunately, we were on the lowest point, so we got hit by everything.”
Seeing the water rush towards him, Mr Wass said he feared for his life: “I thought, ‘we’ll never get out of this’, because it just came so fast.”
Mr Wass and his colleague abandoned the van and climbed over the central reservation to join dozens of other people who were stranded.
He continued: “We were completely surrounded. There was nowhere for us to go other than where we were.
“There was a really high crash barrier, so at least we could sit on top of that to get us off the water. But the water came up to my waist at one point. It was very, very scary.
“There was no way of getting out, other than staying put. There was a motorway bridge, but the current was so strong when you tried to go towards it.”
He said he and about 150 others were able to find some respite from the force of the water due to a gantry that slowed down the current.
The stranded motorists had no option but to walk to Valencia city centre later that night.
Spain’s prime minister admitted not enough had been done to help flooding victims, as ITV News’ Andy Dickenson reports
Spain’s prime minister on Saturday admitted not enough had been done after intense rainfall and catastrophic flooding hit eastern Spain on Monday.
The death toll currently stands at 213. Rescuers are still searching for bodies and many people are still missing. 10,000 soldiers and police are being sent to flood-hit areas.
The most severe weather struck on Tuesday, with Valencia suffering the worst flooding and the most casualties.
Valencia’s regional government has been criticised for not sending out phone emergency alerts early enough.
By the time authorities sent the alerts, many people like Mr Wass were on roads, working or covered in water in low-lying areas or garages, which became death traps.
Mr Wass said: “The problem was we weren’t told. If we’d have got off the ferry and been warned this was coming, we would’ve stayed where we were.”
“The alerts went off as it was happening, so the alerts really were too late,” he said.
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