“It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime,” Sanchez said. The tragedy is already Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal. It is not only my house, it’s all the houses and we are throwing away furniture, we are throwing away everything. The storm triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.