Karen Loftus, 62, from Dorset, says she and her husband are ‘lucky to be alive’
A British woman who escaped Spain’s deadly floods said a ‘split-second decision saved me’.
The extreme flooding has taken the lives of at least 95 people so far as further storms are being forecast for tomorrow (1 November).
Karen Loftus, 62, from Dorset, told Sky News that she and her husband were hit by ‘unbelievably heavy rain’, on their way home to Alicante on Tuesday (29 October).
It was standstill traffic on the AP-7 motorway at around 6pm when Karen saw the bridge ahead being ‘washed away’.
“A lorry went down the bridge, I don’t know what happened,” said the chief executive of UK-based charity Community Action Network.
Karen Loftus, 62, from Dorset, says she and her husband are ‘lucky to be alive’ (Steve Loftus)
Karen works remotely from her second home in the southeastern Spanish city of Elche.
After just 10 minutes, she said ‘the water had risen up and started to come into the car’ and that drivers were ‘smashing windows to get out’.
Because of the pressure from the water, she and her husband were unable to open the car doors and they ‘started to float and hit a lorry’.
Their only option was to climb out of the her car window before they were swept away by the floods.
“Just after we got out of the car, another car floated on top of our car,” Karen explained.
“It was raging, cars were floating about, people were screaming.
The death toll is at least 95 and is expected to rise (David Ramos/Getty Images)
“We thought we were about to be washed away so we ran up the road and it was pitch black dark.
“We banged on the door of the lorry.”
Luckily, a ‘fantastic’ Moroccan driver picked them up.
She added: “We only just made it through.
“It was just like a disaster movie. You know when you think ‘I could die here’. It was so utterly scary.”
Karen has been staying in a hostel in Valencia, losing everything but her passport and her phone.
“We are not gone,” she said.
“There are many families that aren’t in our position.
“If we’d just stayed in the car I don’t know what happened.”
At least 92 deaths have been recorded in Valencia, with another two in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Malaga – a British man, 71, who died after being rescued from his home.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said: “For those who are looking for their loved ones, all of Spain feels your pain.
“Our priority is to help you. We are putting all the resources necessary so that we can recover from this tragedy.”Featured Image Credit: Steve Loftus/David Ramos/Getty Images
Topics: World News, UK News, Weather
