Helicopter Snatches Stranded Woman From Roof in Deadly Spain Floods

A Civil Guard helicopter crew winched an elderly woman from a flooded home in eastern Spain as rescuers raced to reach residents cut off by the storm known as DANA Adam.

Footage released by the Civil Guard shows a mountain rescue specialist being lowered onto a terrace surrounded by muddy floodwater in Oliva on October 19, before being hoisted back up with the woman strapped in and pulled into the cabin, where she clings to the rescuer.

The force said its mountain rescue team, GREIM, and its Air Service rescued an isolated woman as well as a family and their two dogs in Oliva. “Nobody gets left behind,” it said. “Everyone safe!”

By the evening of October 19, the Civil Guard had evacuated 2,141 people and rescued 496 across Valencia and Alicante provinces, many by helicopter because flooded areas could not be reached on foot. Two people were found dead in Oliva as the storm dumped more than 600 liters of rain per square meter in parts of the region.