THIS is the moment a dramatic rescue attempt is carried out as man is saved from his flooded car.
An elderly man can be seen leaning out the window of his vehicle as floodwaters rises to the wheel arches.
A rescuer wades through knee-deep water to reach him, lifting the man onto his back and carrying him to safety.
Relentless rain and powerful storms have battered Andalusia as the regional government has been forced to activate its emergency Plan for torrential flooding.
The provinces of Huelva and Seville have been hit hardest, as authorities warn of a storms expected to sweep across the region in the coming days.
On Wednesday, Andalusia’s Minister of Health and Emergencies, Antonio Sanz, declared the a state of emergency.
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This came after a red alert was issued by Spain’s State Meteorological Agency in Huelva.
“As soon as we received the warning from Aemet, we urgently convened the Andalusian risk assessment and analysis unit,” Sanz explained.
He added that the plan was raised “to its operational status 1.”
The alert prompted an alert to be sent to mobile phones across several municipalities in Huelva, warning residents of an “extreme imminent risk.”
“Extraordinary danger. Flooding and flash floods are possible. Follow the recommendations of Civil Protection,” read the message.
Throughout the morning, videos shared on social media showed streets turned into rivers, while residents described scenes of chaos: “The wind is destroying everything,” one user wrote.
Another added: “The sky is literally falling.”
Sanz confirmed that the violent weather had taken its toll, including an incident in Gibraleón, where a person was hospitalised after a structure fell on them.
“He was revived twice from cardiac arrest thanks to the quick actions of healthcare professionals,” Sanz said.
Sanz praised both the “responsible attitude” of citizens and the “good prevention measures taken,” which helped avoid serious casualties.
Still, he urged the public to remain cautious.
“A significant series of storms is coming,” he warned.
“There is no risk foreseen for Thursday, but in two or three days we could again face a storm as intense and powerful as the one we experienced.”
The warnings come almost exactly a year after the devastating Valencia floods, which killed 237 people and left thousands homeless.
That tragedy, one of Spain’s deadliest natural disasters in recent memory, serves as a stark reminder of how quickly extreme weather can turn catastrophic.
The president of the Andalusian Regional Government, Juanma Moreno, echoed the call for “extreme caution,” noting that he had spoken with Spain’s Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, to coordinate the emergency response.
In Huelva, authorities reported dozens of flood-related emergencies.
Two people were trapped inside a house in Villablanca; classrooms at the Juan Ramón Jiménez school in Cartaya were inundated; and a shop in Ayamonte filled with knee-deep water.
In the city of Huelva, a warehouse was flooded in the La Paz industrial park, Plaza Pensamiento became a shallow lake, and homes on Santa Marta Avenue were submerged.
Several roads were blocked by water, while in Isla Cristina a fallen power cable forced the closure of the HU-3300.
The University of Huelva suspended in-person classes on Wednesday, urging students not to travel to campus.
Similar disruptions were reported in Seville, where torrential rain flooded towns across the Aljarafe region and cities like Dos Hermanas and Alcalá de Guadaíra.
Traffic came to a standstill on the A-92 highway connecting Seville to Málaga and Granada, and there was enough rainfall to overwhelm the city’s drains,
By midday, the red alert was lowered to orange, but authorities kept the emergency plan in place as the situation remained unstable.
“Communication has been perfect, and the coordination between administrations has been adequate,” Sanz emphasised.
He also warned citizens to ignore misinformation circulating online.
“If you receive a message that isn’t from EsAlert, it’s not real,” he said.
This was in response to rumours about school closures that had spread overnight.
As Andalusia braces for more storms, Sanz urged residents to “avoid non-essential travel,” remain “responsible and cautious,” and rely only on official sources for updates.
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“People have listened the recommendations we’ve made,” he said.
By the end of the day, the Andalusian Emergency Coordination Center confirmed that a total of 1,266 incidents had been dealt with since the plan was activated.