Spain: Research boat to scan seabed to help search for those missing in floods

A Spanish research vessel that investigates marine ecosystems has been abruptly diverted from its usual task to take on a new job Helping in the increasingly desperate search for the missing from Spains floodsThe 24 crew members aboard the Ramon Margalef were preparing Friday to use its sensors and submergible robot to map an offshore area of 36 square kilometres mdash the equivalent of more than 5000 soccer fields mdash to see if they can locate vehicles that last weeks catastrophic floods swept into the Mediterranean SeaThe hope is that a map of sunken vehicles could lead to the recovery of bodies Nearly a hundred people have been officially declared missing and authorities admit that is likely they are more people unaccounted for in addition to the over 200 declared deadPablo Carrera the marine biologist leading the mission estimates that in 10 days his team will be able to hand over useful information to police and emergency services Without a map he said it would be practically impossible for police to carry out an effective and systematic recovery operation to reach vehicles that ended up on the seabedldquoIt would be like finding a needle in a haystack Carrera told The Associated Press by phoneMany cars became death traps when the tsunamilike flooding hit on October 29The boat will join a wider effort by police and soldiers who have expanded their searches for bodies and the missing beyond the devastated towns and streets Searchers have used poles to probe into layers of mud while sniffer dogs tried to find scent traces of bodies buried in canal banks and fields They are also looking at beaches that line the coastThe first area the Ramon Margalef is searching is the stretch of sea off the Albufera wetlands where at least some of the water ended up after ripping through villages and the southern outskirts of Valencia citySpanish state broadcaster said Friday that the body of one woman had been found on the beach after she went missing when the rushing water swept through her town of Pedralba roughly an hours drive from the coastCarrera 60 is head of the fleet of the research vessels run by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography a government funded science centre under the umbrella of the Spanish National Research CouncilHe boarded the Ramon Margalef in Alicante located down Spains coast from where it will set sail to reach Valencias waters before dawn Saturday The plan is to go straight to work with the 10 scientists and technicians and 14 sailors working nonstop in shifts The boat also helped research the impact from the lava flow that reached the sea from the 2021 La Palma volcano eruption in Spains Canary IslandsFinding a body at sea Carrera said is highly unlikely So the focus is on large objects that shouldnt be thereThe boats submergible robot loaded with cameras can dive to a depth of 60 metres to attempt to identify cars Ideally they will try to locate license plates although visibility could be extremely limited and the cars could be smashed to bits or engulfed in the muck Carrera saidIn the longer term he said his team will also evaluate the impact of the flood runoff on the marine ecosystemThose findings will contribute to initiatives by other Spanish research centres to study Spains deadliest floods of the centurySpain is used to the occasional deadly flood produced by autumn storms But the drought that has hit the country for the past two years and record hot temperatures helped magnify these floods scientists saySpains meteorological agency said that the 304 inches of rain that fell in one hour in the Valencian town of Turis is an alltime national recordldquoWe have never seen an autumn storm of this intensityrdquo Carrera said ldquoWe cannot stop climate change so we have to prepare for its effectsrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever