Flooding in Alameda de Betera, Valencia on May 7th, 2025 | Photo: El Debate/Teresa Cabo
Valencia’s streets turned to rivers again on May 7, 2025, as a cyclonic storm unleashed torrential rain and marble-sized hail across the region, flooding towns and reviving raw memories of last year’s DANA catastrophe that left an imprint on Spain. Avamet shared a stunning video showing an intense river of rain and hail streaming through a Valencian locality.
The storm flooded towns from Utiel to Chiva. Rivers burst, roads vanished, and homes filled with mud, echoing the October 29th, 2024 DANA disaster that claimed 224 lives, wrecked 100,000 cars, and left Paiporta’s suburbs buried in toxic mud.
Last night’s storm has sharpened the knife. AEMET’s May 6th orange alert for 20mm/h rain and hail came early, but locals say mobile warnings lagged, leaving drivers stranded on the AP-7 highway. Valencia’s Emergency Coordination Centre scrambled, deploying 1,000 troops to clear debris, per El Debate.
Hail battered several Valencian towns
During yesterday afternoon, hail fell heavily in several Valencian towns, including Guadasséquies, Calles, Villar del Arzobispo, and l’Olleria. According to Avamet data, in l’Olleria (Vall d’Albaida), up to 37.7 l/m² accumulated in just over 20 minutes, with wind gusts reaching nearly 80 kilometres per hour.
The most significant rainfall records occurred in Roseel (61.2 l/m²), l’Alcora (47.4 l/m²), l’Orxa (46.4 l/m²), Castellnovo (40 l/m²) and l’Olleria (38.2 l/m²). Aemet reported that the storms began at noon in Castellón, northern Alicante, and inland Valencia. In the north of Valencia, a particularly active storm was reported as well with large hail in the areas of Pedralba, Casinos, and Bugarra, with strong to powerful intensity.
Highly adverse weather conditions
According to weather officials, a storm also developed between the Serranía and Camp de Turia regions, classified by Aemet as having “very high potential adverse weather conditions and probable large hail,” moving “very slowly” toward the southeast.
After passing through the Serranía and Camp de Turia mountains, Aemet observed that this storm “is spreading anomalously, deviating significantly southeastward relative to the movement of the other storms in its vicinity, which are moving eastward.”
A cyclonic supercell storm
The meteorological agency suggested that this anomalous situation could be an indication of a “cyclonic supercell storm,” known for deviating to the right of the mean wind speed. A particularly active storm in northern Valencia was also reported, with large hail in Pedralba, Casinos, and Bugarra areas, with strong to powerful intensity.
The afternoon’s most intense storm continues to move toward the sea through the north of Valencia province, and Valencia Airport has reported a rainstorm. The Valencia Provincial Fire Department has responded to several storm-related calls, including two possible fires caused by lightning in Sueca and Paterna. Staff were also dispatched to l’Olleria to clear hail and to Xàtiva due to a flooded tunnel.
The single emergency telephone number 1 1 2 in the Valencian Community has handled several cases related to the rain and storms, mainly in Xàtiva and Villar del Arzobispo. In the meantime, the Valencia City Council announced that parks and gardens would remain closed for the safety of local residents. It also called for suspending outdoor activities and closing cemeteries in response to the orange alert.
DANA’s devastating effects of 2024
Many will ask if a May 6th, 2025 event, which Valencia hosted with 60 European police tech experts to simulate flood responses, did any good, given the disaster that followed 24 hours later. “We’re building smarter systems,” an organiser claimed, but with Paiporta’s streets underwater again, trust is razor-thin.
Valencia’s wounds run deep—2,000 still displaced from 2024, per the Housing Department. As rain keeps falling, locals demand more than summits and promises. They want alerts that save lives, not excuses that bury them.
Residents still shudder, haunted by screams and submerged homes. Now, with Valencia’s interior and coast under orange alerts, the region braces for another battering, and expats from Alicante to Benidorm hold their breath.
Last year’s DANA exposed gaping flaws in preparedness. AEMET, Spain’s weather agency, flagged the 2024 storm days early, issuing red alerts by the morning before the tragic natural disaster.
Yet, warnings barely reached towns like Chiva or Catarroja. The Valencian government, led by Carlos Mazón, scrapped the €9 million Emergencies Unit in 2023, calling it “superfluous.” When floods hit, chaos ruled—technicians begged to send mobile alerts, but Mazón’s team delayed until 8:11 p.m., hours too late.
“Nobody warned us,” Paiporta’s mayor told El País, echoing survivors’ fury. Over 2,000 residents remain displaced, per Valencia’s Housing Department, and €741 million in insurance payouts only scratch the surface.