CNN reports that Spain is reeling from its worst flooding in decades, after a year’s worth of rain fell in just hours this week in the country’s southern and eastern regions, flooding towns and roads, causing rivers to overflow, and leaving thousands without power or running water.
The storm began on Tuesday (10/29/2024) and has, so far, killed at least 205 people, including 202 killed in Spain’s Valencia region, where dozens more remain missing.
Five hundred Spanish soldiers have joined the operations in the Valencia region, bringing the total deployed across the country to 1,700, according to the Ministry of Defense, with some areas still only accessible by helicopter.
The CNN article may be read in full HERE.
The Associated Press (“AP News”) is reporting today (11/2/2024) that Spain’s government is sending 5,000 additional soldiers and 5,000 additional police officers to the eastern region of Valencia, following the deadly floods this week. According to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the death toll has reached at least 211 persons.
The AP News article may be read in full HERE.
My brothers and sisters, how horrible it must be to have watched your home and towns washed away, with family, neighbors or friends killed or displaced.
Let’s pray for those who are hurting and have lost loved ones and their possessions. We know, as believers, that God sees it all and knows the hearts of everyone involved:
Proverbs 15:3 (NKJV)
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, [k]eeping watch on the evil and the good.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NKJV)
“The heart is deceitful above all things, [a]nd desperately wicked; [w]ho can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart [emphasis mine], I test the mind, [e]ven to give every man according to his ways, [a]ccording to the fruit of his doings.”
Psalm 146:8 (Amplified Bible)
“The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; [t]he Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; [t]he Lord loves the righteous [the upright in heart].”
Despite the unfortunate, heart-wrenching or even evil things happening in the midst of this flood, we can trust in God to hear and answer the prayers of His people, bringing comfort and turning misfortune or evil for good, as only God can do:
1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)
Confidence and Compassion in Prayer
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
2 Corinthians 1:3 (NKJV)
Comfort in Suffering
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…”.
Romans 8:28 (NLT)
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”