SEDAVI, Spain: Spain braced for a heavier human toll on Wednesday after 95 people died in flash floods that launched muddy waters through towns, tossed cars and wreaked transport havoc.
Rescuers were expected to find more bodies in the European country’s deadliest flood in more than 50 years and three days of official mourning were due to start on Thursday.
Heavy downpours and fierce winds have lashed Spain since the beginning of the week after a storm formed over the Mediterranean Sea, with up to a year’s worth of rain falling in just hours in some areas.
The body coordinating emergency services in the eastern Valencia region announced a provisional death toll of 92, adding that bodies were still being recovered and identified.
Two people died in neighboring Castilla-La Mancha and another victim was reported in Andalusia in the south, both regions’ leaders told journalists.
The toll is likely to rise because “there are many missing people,” government minister Angel Victor Torres told public broadcaster TVE.

The head of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazon, told reporters there were no longer people to save from roofs or terraces through aerial means.
Emergency services carried out 200 rescues on the ground and 70 aerial evacuations throughout the day, he said.
A sea of piled-up cars and mud swamped streets in Sedavi, a suburb of the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia, AFP journalists saw.
Stunned residents attempted to clean the sludge and grabbed buckets to bail out water from their homes ahead of a long night without water or electricity.
In Ribarroja del Turia on the outskirts of Valencia city, town councillor Esther Gomez said workers were stuck overnight in an industrial estate “without a chance of rescuing them” as streams overflowed.
“It had been a long time since this happened and we’re scared,” she told AFP.
According to Spain’s weather service AEMET, the town of Chiva, west of Valencia, recorded 491 mm of rain in just eight hours on Tuesday — almost equalling a year’s worth.
“All of Spain weeps with all of you... We won’t abandon you,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told victims and their families in a televised address.
The disaster could not be considered over and “we will deploy all the necessary resources for as long as necessary so that we can recover from this tragedy,” he added.
King Felipe VI said he was “devastated” by the news on X and offered “heartfelt condolences” to families of the victims, thanking emergency services for their “titanic” response.
Damage to telephone networks and flooded roads were hampering efforts to reach stricken communities in the Valencia region, but rescuers’ access to all urban hubs was restored by Wednesday evening, Mazon said.
Some 155,000 homes were without electricity in Valencia region due to the storm, energy company Iberdrola said, adding that it had dispatched 500 workers to restore power there.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles told reporters more than 1,000 troops backed by helicopters were being deployed in the face of “an unprecedented phenomenon.”
The European Union activated its Copernicus satellite system to help coordinate Spanish rescue teams, commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference in Brussels.
The bloc has also offered to use its civil protection mechanism to send further reinforcements, she said.

Officials in the Valencia region announced survivors were being sheltered in temporary accommodation such as fire stations.
Rail and air transport remained severely disrupted. The high-speed line between Valencia and Madrid will be suspended over the next four days at least, rail infrastructure authority Adif announced.
Some downpours are expected to continue, but AEMET removed all remaining red alerts in the evening.
The flood toll is Spain’s deadliest since 1973 when at least 150 people were estimated to have died in the southeastern provinces of Granada, Murcia and Almeria.
Meteorologists have said the latest storm was caused by cold air moving over Mediterranean’s warm waters, which produced intense rain clouds, a phenomenon common for the time of year.
Scientists warn extreme weather events such as storms are becoming more intense, last longer and occur more frequently as a result of human-induced climate change.
Such extremes “can overwhelm the ability of existing defenses and contingency plans to cope, even in a relatively wealthy country like Spain,” said Leslie Mabon, senior lecturer in environmental systems at Britain’s Open University.
The heavy death toll came after warnings for extreme rainfall, suggesting Valencia’s flood alert system failed, said Hannah Cloke, hydrology professor at the University of Reading.

LONDON: Early voting has already begun in the US to decide who will form the next administration in what many believe is among the most consequential — and hotly contested — elections in a generation.

Almost every poll published over the past week has placed the two main contenders, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, neck and neck in the race for the White House.

Analysts predict the result could come down to just a handful of votes. The outcome could have huge implications not only for domestic policy, but also for the international order.

With extensive media coverage, election jargon, and an overwhelming volume of information, understanding the process can feel daunting. Here is a breakdown of all you need to know to survive election day.

The polls

Polls are often excellent indicators of general voter sentiment. However, recent US elections have shown they are far from foolproof.

In 2016, almost every major polling firm predicted Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump. However, pollsters failed to capture Trump’s unexpected support, leading to a surprise victory that confounded many.

In 2020, polls correctly tipped Joe Biden as the likely winner, but underestimated the actual vote share Trump would receive. In the week before the election, polls gave Biden a seven-point lead, yet Trump managed to close the gap by several points on Election Day.

With most polls indicating a close race on Tuesday, many are wondering whether the pollsters have got it right this time around.

Electoral college

About 244 million Americans are eligible to vote in this year’s election. If the turnout matches 2020’s record 67 percent, about 162 million ballots will be cast across 50 states.

A recent Arab News-YouGov poll indicated that Arab Americans are likely to vote in record numbers, with more than 80 percent of eligible voters saying they intend to participate — potentially swinging the outcome in several key states.

When voters cast their ballots, they do not vote directly for their preferred presidential candidate. Rather, they vote for a slate of “electors” who formally choose the president — a process known as the electoral college system.

Due to the quirks of this system, the candidate with the most votes nationally may not necessarily win the presidency. This was the case with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Al Gore in 2000, both of whom won the popular vote but lost the election.

The electoral college creates what could be defined as 51 mini elections — one in each state and another for Washington, D.C. In 48 states and D.C., the candidate with the majority vote takes all the electors from that state.

However, Maine and Nebraska have a different system, allocating electors by district, meaning their electoral votes may be split between candidates.

In total, 538 electors are distributed among the states. A candidate must secure at least 270 of these to win the presidency.

In the unlikely case that no candidate has the required 270 electoral college votes, then a contingent election takes place. This means the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the US Congress, votes for the president.

How votes are counted

When the polls close on election day, the count begins. In most cases, in-person votes are counted first, followed by early and mail-in ballots.

Results from smaller or less contested states often come in early, while larger, key battleground states like Pennsylvania or Georgia may take hours — or days — to finalize due to stringent verification steps, including signature checks and ballot preparation for electronic scanning.

States like Florida, where mail-in ballots are processed in advance, may report results relatively quickly. Other states, particularly those with late processing times for absentee ballots, might not finalize their tallies until days later.

State and local poll officials collect, verify, and certify the popular vote in each jurisdiction, following procedures for accuracy before final certification by governors and designated officials.

In response to unprecedented threats in 2020, many polling stations have now installed panic buttons, bulletproof glass and armed security to ensure safety across the more than 90,000 polling sites nationwide.

Mail-in and early votes

Although election day is held on the first Tuesday after Nov. 1, many Americans vote early. Early voting allows citizens to cast ballots in person, while others opt for mail-in ballots.

This year, early and mail-in voting are once again expected to play a crucial role, with millions of ballots already cast. President Biden voted early on Monday in his home state of Delaware.

States vary in how they handle mail-in ballots, with some processing them before election day and others waiting until polls close. In closely contested states, the volume of mail-in ballots could be a decisive factor, potentially delaying results.

Voting by mail has grown in popularity. According to ABC News, as of Tuesday, more than 25.6 million Americans have already returned mail ballots, and more than 65 million — including military personnel serving overseas — have requested absentee ballots.

In 2020, a comparable number voted by mail, though the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased reliance on this option.

Despite its growing popularity, the mail-in voting system has faced accusations of fraud. During the last election, authorities and the postal service were strained by millions of extra ballots.

At the time, Trump said that mail-in voting was a “disaster” and “a whole big scam,” claiming that the Democrats had exploited the system to “steal” the election. The Democrats claim those allegations contributed to the Capitol Hill attack of Jan. 6, 2021.

This election cycle, some states, including Michigan and Nevada, have passed laws permitting early counting of mail-in ballots, which should lead to faster results. However, most states’ absentee voting policies have seen minimal changes, leaving tensions high.

Authorities are closely monitoring the process. In a sign of just how tense the situation has become, officials announced on Tuesday that they were searching for suspects after hundreds of votes deposited in two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were destroyed by fire.

When will a winner be declared?

Indiana and Kentucky will be the first states to close their polls at 6 pm ET, followed by seven more states an hour later, including the battleground state of Georgia, which in 2020 voted for Biden. North Carolina, another critical swing state which picked Trump last time around, closes at 7:30 pm ET.

By around 8 p.m. ET, many states will have reported results, most of which are expected to follow traditional patterns. However, early results in solid Republican states like South Carolina could hint at trends in neighboring battlegrounds like Georgia.

By 9 p.m. ET, polls in key swing states such as Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan close, with results trickling in soon after. By midnight ET, most of the nation will have reported, with Hawaii and Alaska closing shortly after, likely providing a clearer picture.

Pennsylvania, which is seen as a bellwether of the overall election outcome, aims to announce its results by early morning on Nov. 6.

The timing of a winner declaration ultimately depends on how close the race is in these key states. If one candidate establishes a clear lead in pivotal swing states early, a winner could be projected by major networks, as Fox News controversially did in 2020, calling Arizona for Biden hours ahead of other broadcasters.

If the race remains tight in crucial states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, or Michigan — all won by Biden last time around — the results may be delayed, possibly into the next day or later.

In 2020, it took four days to project Biden’s win due to a high volume of mail-in ballots. Experts caution that similarly close results this year could lead to a comparable delay.

Possible controversy

As in previous years, the outcome of the election will likely be contested. Delays in ballot counting, especially from mail-in votes, could fuel disputes in states where margins are tight.

Both parties have prepared legal teams to challenge issues surrounding ballot validity, recounts, or other contested results.

Concerns over voter intimidation, misinformation and unsubstantiated allegations of fraud may further stoke tensions, despite the rigorous safeguards put in place.

In its latest assessment, the International Crisis Group noted that while conditions differ from 2020, political divisions remain sharp and risks of unrest remain high, especially if results are contested or take days to finalize.

As the world watches Tuesday’s election closely, there is widespread hope for a fair and peaceful process, marking a fitting conclusion to this tense political season.