Shop owner Emilia, 74, also said she felt abandoned as she reckons with the destruction in Picanya, a suburb of Valencia.

“We feel abandoned, there are many people who need help,” she told Reuters news agency, adding people are throwing away many, if not all, of their household items.

“We can’t even wash our clothes and we can’t even have a shower.”

In a televised statement, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced an increase in security forces to help relief works.

Sanchez said he was deploying a further 5,000 more troops to help with the searches and the clean-up in addition to the 2,500 already deployed, calling it the biggest operation by the armed forces in Spain in peacetime.

A further deployment of 5,000 police officers and civil guards will also take place.

The government said 4,800 rescues had been made and 30,000 people helped.

But as well as their response, authorities have also come under fire over the adequacy of warning systems before the flood.

“I am aware the response is not enough, there are problems and severe shortages… towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives… we have to improve,” Sanchez said.

Additional reporting by Bethany Bell in Valencia