An Irish woman living in Valencia, Spain, has described the scenes of the flooding aftermath as apocalyptic.
Leigha Plunkett, 22, an English language assistant from Co Cavan, spent the last few days volunteering in some of the worst impacted areas following last Tuesday's storm.
"There's dead animals on the street, there are cars up on top of each other, about three or four cars, and there are still people looking for their loved ones in those cars," she said.
"Apocalyptic is the only way I can describe it."
She told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that a lot of the clean-up efforts are happening organically, with people arriving to badly hit areas and pitching in.
The death toll from the country's worst flash floods in modern history edged higher to 217 - almost all in the Valencia region and over 60 of them in Paiporta alone.
The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
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Ms Plunkett described helping to clear one house badly hit by flooding, where a man in his 70s and his two daughters lived.
She said that they told her they were trapped in the upstairs of the house for 48 hours with no water. She said the anger among people can be felt on the streets.
"They're so angry. I mean, yesterday, day five, is the first time I have actually seen army people on the street. I mean, before that it's only, people from the towns that are helping, and people are so angry."
Hundreds of residents of a Valencia suburb protested during a visit by Spanish King Felipe, Queen Letizia, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday, with some throwing mud at them.
Chanting "Murderers, murderers!" they vented pent-up anger over what has been widely perceived by local residents as tardy alerts from the authorities about the dangers of Tuesday's storm and flooding in the Valencia region, and then a late response by the emergency services when disaster struck.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe, and elsewhere, due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.
Additional reporting by AFP and Reuters.
