Sawt Falasteen - Spain braces for more flood deaths, steps up aid

Hopes of finding survivors more than three days after torrents of mud-filled water submerged towns and wrecked infrastructure were slim in the European country's deadliest such disaster in decades.

Almost all deaths have been recorded in the eastern Valencia region where thousands of soldiers, police officers and civil guards were frantically clearing debris and mud in the search for bodies.

Officials have said that dozens of people remain unaccounted for, but establishing a precise figure is difficult with telephone and transport networks severely damaged.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska on Friday told Cadena Ser radio station that 207 people had died and that it was "reasonable" to believe more fatalities would emerge.

It is also hoped that the estimated number of missing people will fall once telephone and internet services are running again.

Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages -- some of which have been cut off from food, water and power for days -- is a priority.

Authorities have come under fire over the adequacy of warning systems before the floods, and some residents have also complained that the response to the disaster is too slow.

Susana Camarero, deputy head of the Valencia region, told journalists on Saturday that essential supplies had been delivered "from day one" to all accessible settlements.

But it was "logical" that affected residents were asking for more, she added.

Authorities in Valencia have restricted access to roads for two days to allow emergency services to carry out search, rescue and logistics operations more effectively.

- 'Overwhelmed' by solidarity -

Thousands of ordinary citizens pushing shopping trolleys and carrying cleaning equipment took to the streets on Friday to help with the effort to clean up.

Camarero said some municipalities were "overwhelmed by the amount of solidarity and food" they had received.

The surge of solidarity continued on Saturday as around 1,000 people set off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia towards nearby towns laid waste by the floods, an AFP journalist saw.

Authorities have urged them to stay at home to avoid congestion on the roads that would hamper the work of emergency services.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez chaired a meeting of a crisis committee made up of top cabinet members on Saturday and is due to address the country later.

The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.

But scientists warn that climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.

R.Halabi--SF-PST