The mangled car in which Jorge TarazonaB次元官网网址檚 3-year-old niece and sister-in-law perished in now hangs halfway off the ragged edge of road.

His brother managed to survive, clinging to a fence. He and his family had been caught in traffic driving home to Paiporta on ValenciaB次元官网网址檚 southern outskirts, Tarazona said. They had no chance to escape when the nearby drainage canal and swept away everything in its path.

B次元官网网址淭hey did not have time to do anything,B次元官网网址� Tarazona told The Associated Press, a week after the Oct. 29 flash floods. B次元官网网址淢y brother was dragged away and ended up clinging to a fence.B次元官网网址� His sister-in-law B次元官网网址渃ould not get out and died with her little girl.B次元官网网址�

Tarazona had ridden a bike back to the site and taped a note on the car asking for whoever eventually removed the wreck off the side of the highway, to call him.

B次元官网网址淚t all happened so fast,B次元官网网址� he said, tears coming to his eyes. B次元官网网址淚n half an hour the current had carried away the car. There was no time, no time. She managed to send me the location of their car hoping for a rescue.

B次元官网网址淭he next day she was found dead inside,B次元官网网址� he said.

ItB次元官网网址檚 unclear if the two are included in the official toll of the 217 confirmed dead as fatalities tick up, eight days after the deadliest floods in Spain this century.

Paiporta has been labeled by Spanish media as the that has also left while officials say the real figure could be higher.

Over 60 people perished in Paiporta when a wave of water rushed down the Poyo canal that cuts through its center. Frustration over the survivorsB次元官网网址� sense of abandonment exploded in Paiporta on Sunday when a crowd greeted SpainB次元官网网址檚 royals and officials with .

Prime Minister Pedro S谩nchez was rushed away and the royal couple had to eventually cancel the visit after speaking to several distraught neighbors amid a chaotic scene.

The mayor of Paiporta, a middle-class community of 30,000, on Tuesday pleaded for a B次元官网网址渉igher authorityB次元官网网址� to step in and take control of her municipality because the floods had made it impossible to go on. Mayor Maribel Albalat said all the municipal buildings, from town hall to the local police, had been severely damaged and that many of the local civil servants B次元官网网址渁re in a state of shock.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淧aiporta is a strong village, but this overwhelms out capacities as a local administration,B次元官网网址� she said.

The air-throbbing B次元官网网址渢hup, thup, thupB次元官网网址� of the huge, two-propeller Chinook helicopters that have flown overhead with the arrival of the army has added to the post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

The destruction, however, of municipalities, above all on the southern flank of Valencia city on the Mediterranean coast. Seventy-eight localities had at least one person die from the floods. Police have expanded their search to the nearby marshes and coastline, where the waters carried some away.

The residents, businesses and town councils of the affected localities can apply for financial help from a 10.6-billion-euro relief package from SpainB次元官网网址檚 government. The regional Valencia government, which is being slammed for , has asked the central government in Madrid for 31 billion euros to ensure the recovery.

Over a week later, the cleanup goes on to get rid of tons of mud and debris that clog street after street, filling thousands of ground floors, destroying living rooms and kitchens. Neighborhoods were left without shops and supermarkets after all their products were ruined. Many houses still don麓t have drinking water.

An were the first helpers on the ground, shoveling and sweeping away the sticky brown mire covering everything, and helping to start removing pile after pile of debris that made access to cars impossible in many areas.

Authorities eventually mobilized 15,000 soldiers and police reinforcements to help firefighters search for bodies and start extracting thousands of wrecked cars strewn over streets and sunk in canal beds.

At every corner, cars are piled on top of one another or smashed into buildings, light poles, trees and bridge overpasses.

B次元官网网址淭here is still so much to do,B次元官网网址� said volunteer Juanma Baztan L贸pez, who is helping churn through the muck in Catarroja, which borders on Paiporta, in his four-wheel drive. He has helped transport doctors to people in need, deliver essential products, and tow away wrecked cars.

B次元官网网址淚t will take a year to get this back to normal,B次元官网网址� he said.

___

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.

Paolo Santalucia And Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press