News Wrap: At least 158 confirmed dead from devastating flash floods in Spain

In our news wrap Thursday, crews in Spain are searching for bodies in abandoned cars and swamped buildings after devastating flash floods, rocket attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel killed at least seven people, including four foreign workers and U.S. officials say about 8,000 North Korean troops are now at Russia’s border with Ukraine and expected to join the fighting in the coming days.
Amna Nawaz:
We start the day’s other headlines in Spain, where crews are searching for bodies in abandoned cars and swamped buildings after devastating flash floods.
At least 158 people are confirmed dead and an unknown number of others remain missing. The eastern region of Valencia was by far the worst hit.
From there, ITN’s James Mates reports.
James Mates:
This was how a flood was to be handled, a ravine, a channel that could tame nature and get water safely to the sea.
On Tuesday night, nature had other ideas, three of the four bridges simply swept away, water surging two to three meters above the banks. Cars were tossed aside like toys dumped even onto railway lines, and all with such speed that people, many on the streets on their way home from work, had little chance.
Adrian Manez, Spain Resident:
Sort of ocean came here and everything was underwater. Everything — suddenly, in 10 minutes, all the town was absolutely full of water.
James Mates:
We found Elena and her husband, Ismael, beginning to clear up outside their home just a few meters from where the river burst.
Elena showed me how they fled up their front steps, only to find the water rushing in to waist height after them. The trauma of the next few hours is still with her.
“My son couldn’t get to us,” she said. “I can’t talk. It was a terrible catastrophe.”
Without being here at the time, it’s almost impossible to conceive of the force of water that came down this street. Locals talk about it as a tsunami. And when you see what happened, when the water had nowhere else to go, simply smashed everything into the end of this street, they weren’t exaggerating.
The irony, of course, is that this sort of storm is not unusual here at this time of year. They thought they were resilient to it. It turned out they simply weren’t. A local supermarket, still awash with mud and debris, opened its doors this morning and told people to take what they need.
For years, experts have warned that freak weather was going to get more frequent and more intense. It has. If Europeans believe their modern societies can easily withstand such events, then recent storms in Central Europe and now Southern Spain may demand a serious rethink.
James Mates, ITV News, Valencia, Spain.
Amna Nawaz:
Turning now to the Middle East, Lebanon launched back-to-back rocket attacks into Northern Israel today, killing at least seven people, including four foreign workers. It was the deadliest day in Israel since its military crossed into Lebanon early this month.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its aerial assault of Southern Lebanon. Health officials there say 45 people have died in just the past day. Eyewitnesses captured the scope of the devastation, including in the city of Baalbek, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Across Lebanon, wary residents say they’re tired of living in fear.
Walid Karaki, Beirut Business Owner (through interpreter):
No one knows anymore where is safest and where is not. We are tired. The most important thing is that this doesn’t drag on any longer. They must find a solution, a cease-fire and implement a resolution in order to achieve peace.
Amna Nawaz:
Since Israel’s incursion, the Lebanese government estimates that some 1.2 million of its people have been displaced in the conflict.
U.S. officials say about 8,000 North Korean troops are now at Russia’s border with Ukraine. They’re expected to join the fighting in the coming days. The new figure is a sharp increase from just a day earlier, when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would only say some troops had moved towards the border.
Austin joined Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a meeting with their South Korean counterparts in Washington today. They condemned the buildup of troops, as well as North Korea’s ballistic missile test overnight. And the group agreed to expand their cooperation.
Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense: That’s why the United States and the ROK are working so closely with our partners to stand up to coercive destabilizing actions in both the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic. Our work together is central to ensuring peace and stability and to enhancing deterrence.
Amna Nawaz:
Today’s gathering comes as Russia continues its air assault on Ukraine. At least three people were killed, including two teenage boys, when a Russian glide bomb struck a residential building in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv. Dozens of other people were injured.
A Philadelphia judge has put a state case against Elon Musk’s million-dollar election sweepstakes on hold. City prosecutors had tried to stop the giveaways from Musk’s political action committee, saying they may violate election law. Musk did not show up at the hearing at Philadelphia City Hall today. His lawyers are trying to move the case to federal court.
Musk has been handing out million-dollar prizes to randomly selected voters in swing states who pledge their support for gun rights and free speech. The giveaways have continued as the legal challenge plays out.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation slowed last month to near-pre-pandemic levels. It’s a welcome sign for consumers ahead of the U.S. election. The latest report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 2.1 percent in September when compared to last year. That is down from a reading of 2.3 percent in August, and it’s just a hair above the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target.
Separately, the number of Americans filing for unemployment fell last week by 12,000, pointing to ongoing stability in the U.S. labor market.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended sharply lower as tech shares weighed on the markets. The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 380 points on the day. The Nasdaq’s sank more than 500 points, or about 2.75 percent. The S&P 500 also ended sharply lower, dropping more than 100 points.
And it was a Hollywood ending for this year’s World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their series-clinching win over the New York Yankees last night was defined by an epic comeback, or a remarkable collapse, depending on who you root for. New York blew a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning due to a number of errors.
L.A. went on to win the game and the series. Today, the team brought the trophy back to Tinseltown. It’s the Dodgers’ second World Series win in just the last five years. Tomorrow, the City of Angels will host their heroes with a parade downtown and a celebration at Dodger Stadium.