PAIPORTA, Spain - The water was already knee-high on the ground floor of the hotel where Aitana Puchal had taken refuge when she received a text alert from the regional government of Valencia at 8 pm on Oct 29 warning people to shelter in place from severe flash floods.

"We could have done with (the warning) about six hours earlier," said the 23-year-old, who had fled with other local residents and guests to the first floor of the hotel near the town of Paiporta. "We were all calming down a little from the panic and drying our feet."

Others were not so fortunate.

Carlos Martinez, another Paiporta resident, told local television the flood alert came when he was stranded in a tree "seeing bodies floating past."

Dozens of inhabitants of flooded communities told Reuters that by the time they received the regional government's alert, muddy water was already surrounding their cars, submerging streets of their towns and pouring into their homes.

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