Thousands of protesters turned out in Valencia, Spain to demand accountability for the government's response to historically deadly floods that killed at least 220 people.
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00:00Protesters take to the streets in Valencia, Spain, angry at the local government's handling
00:08of deadly flooding that's killed more than 220 people.
00:12They've left muddy handprints, symbolizing blood, on the walls of the regional government
00:17palace.
00:18The regional government didn't warn on time for the flooding, didn't respond on time,
00:23didn't get the help from the central government on time, and they just did everything that
00:29they could wrong.
00:30So we want them to quit and to let a new government to take over the responsibilities to clean
00:36up the mess that they left.
00:41Brief violent clashes broke out between police and demonstrators after authorities attempted
00:46to break up the protests.
00:48The floods were the worst to hit Spain in decades.
00:51They were caused by massive rainfall on October 29th, devastating large parts of the country's
00:56east.
00:57At least 80 people are still missing, and the search for survivors is ongoing.
01:03Many people in Valencia, the most affected region, are angry at their local leader for
01:08his lack of urgency leading up to the storm.
01:10According to the forecast, the storm is moving towards the SerranÃa de Cuenca at the moment,
01:15so it is expected that around 6 p.m. the intensity will decrease in the rest of the Valencian
01:22community.
01:26People are also angry about reports that he refused to cancel a lunchtime meeting on the
01:31day of the storm.
01:33Many are exhausted from the disaster.
01:36We are alive, I don't know how, and all I want to say is that this abandonment and this
01:43institutional negligence has to be paid for.
01:46And even though I'm exhausted, I haven't slept at all, I'm very anxious, I'm here
01:52to demand answers, because this is not normal.
01:56Spain has set aside at least 10 billion U.S. dollars for the first round of rescue and
02:00recovery efforts.
02:01But with the devastation still fresh in the minds of Valencians, they continue to call
02:06for accountability from their leaders.
02:09Ryan Wu and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.