Storm Adam Kills at Least Five in Spain and at Least Four in France

Updated 18:10 UTC: France death toll rises to at least four

The toll in France rose to at least four after storms and flooding hit the south, French authorities said late on Wednesday, Reuters reported on Thursday. Two women, aged 86 and 26, were found drowned in a cellar in the Bouches-du-Rhone region. In Corsica, a man died after floodwaters swept away a 4x4 vehicle on Tuesday. Another person in the vehicle escaped through a window. Authorities have not released details about the fourth death.

One person was injured around Mouries and Saint-Martin-de-Crau, two small towns between Montpellier and Marseille, where dozens of residents were put in emergency shelters. Jacques Witkowski, prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhone department, said in a Wednesday statement: "The water has risen to unprecedented levels" and "We are mobilised at an exceptional level to resolve several issues." He also expressed a thought for all those in distress.

Roads and train lines in the area were disrupted, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot wrote on X. Forecasters said the weather in the south was expected to calm, while Storm Austen was expected to bring heavy winds across the northwest later on Thursday into Friday, according to Meteo France.

Updated 16:52 UTC. Storm Adam has now killed at least five people in Spain and one person in France. Authorities in Spain put the toll there at at least five on Tuesday as the rain eased over Valencia, the Civil Guard said it had evacuated more than 2,100 people and rescued almost 500 since the storm began, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez travelled to Valencia to see the damage, Daily Guardian Europe reported. In France, a man in his 70s was swept away by floodwater at Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts, near Marseille, and was found dead in the neighbouring town of Istres, the Bouches-du-Rhone prefecture said, according to AFP reporting carried by Boursorama. The person with him was saved, and a helicopter took part in the search. Mayor Vincent Goyet told ICI that the town had never seen anything like it, with houses flooded, walls collapsed, trees down and departmental roads cut. Meteo France kept Haute-Corse, on Corsica, under a red alert for rain and flooding into Tuesday evening and called for absolute vigilance, while the Gard stayed on orange alert and the rain eased elsewhere in the south by midday.

Updated 11:30 UTC. Authorities now say Storm Adam killed four people in eastern Spain, two more than first reported. Two people died in the coastal town of Oliva, a 79 year old woman found in her home and a man who suffered a fatal heart attack at a campsite. A man drowned at a beach in Sagunto, and a woman died after falling into a swollen stream in Catalonia, AFP and Reuters reported, and DW reported the same toll of four. Security forces carried out more than 400 rescues in the Valencia region, government representative Pilar Bernabe said, and more than 2,000 people were evacuated, mainly in Oliva. Shelter in place orders that covered about 800,000 residents on Monday morning were cut to 87,000 people in eight municipalities by late afternoon, and most restrictions across about 100 municipalities were lifted by early afternoon as conditions improved. Rainfall reached 700 litres per square metre in 24 hours in parts of the Valencia region.

Helicopters lifted people from rooftops in eastern Spain on Monday as torrential rain from Storm Adam flooded towns along the Mediterranean coast, killed at least two people and brought shelter in place orders for more than 800,000 residents, Reuters reported.

The storm cut off several towns as rivers burst their banks and streets turned into torrents. The scenes recalled the flooding that killed more than 230 people in the Valencia region two years ago, Reuters said.

Two women found dead over the weekend

Local officials said the bodies of two women who had drowned were found over the weekend. One body washed up on a beach in Sagunto, in Valencia province. The other woman died after she was swept away by floodwater in Cabrera de Mar, near Barcelona, Reuters reported.

Anadolu Agency reported that one woman died on Sunday night after she went into the sea at a beach in Sagunto, and that the second woman was found in the sea near Barcelona, about 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from where she disappeared on Saturday after being swept away by a flooded stream in Cabrera de Mar.

Towns cut off between Gandia and Oliva

At least six towns along the coast between Gandia and Oliva were cut off by the flooding, government representative Pilar Bernabe said, according to Anadolu. In Forna, 718 litres of rain per square metre fell in just over 24 hours.

Valencia regional emergency minister Juan Carlos Valderrama said a coastal storm was making the flooding worse, with waves reaching 4 metres (13 feet) that stopped swollen rivers from draining into the Mediterranean, Anadolu reported.

In Pego, mayor Enrique Moll told regional radio station A Punt that several people were still waiting on rooftops to be lifted out by helicopter. Every access route into the town was blocked, and even heavy military vehicles could not get through in some places, Reuters reported.

In Oliva, deputy mayor Salvador Llopis told state broadcaster TVE that rescue teams were pulling trapped residents from their homes, among them older people standing in water up to their waists. "They have to stay on top of tables and furniture to avoid getting wet," he said. Llopis said the rain had started to ease after causing heavy damage to infrastructure, Reuters reported.

Record rain since 1987

The national weather agency AEMET called conditions "extremely adverse." Rainfall in some areas passed 600 millimetres (24 inches) in 48 hours, the most recorded since 1987. AEMET issued red alerts and told people to avoid all travel and move to higher ground, Reuters reported.

More than 100,000 students in Valencia had classes suspended because of the alerts. The central government sent military emergency units and national police to help, Reuters reported. Troops from the Military Emergencies Unit left their base in Betera for Oliva on Monday morning, the Defence Ministry said.

Adam is a cut off low pressure system known in Spain as a DANA. It forms when a pocket of cold air sits high in the atmosphere and meets warm, moist air from the Mediterranean, which can set off violent thunderstorms. AEMET named Adam on Oct. 16, making it the first high impact DANA of the 2026-27 season, The Sun reported.

The Sun reported that conditions should start to improve on Tuesday, Oct. 20, though more downpours are forecast first. The storm also threatens southern France, where five departments are under orange warnings.

Meteorologists say human driven climate change makes such extreme events more frequent and destructive, Reuters reported.