STAGGERING aerial videos reveal the full devastation of brutal floods that swamped Ibiza after a biblical downpour.
Cars and debris were strewn around the streets by gushing floodwater and a landslide crashed through a hotel – but the clean-up has now begun.
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Footage from a cop chopper shows the vast sea-front promenades totally submerged in brown floodwater, which gushes over into the sea.
Locals can be seen battling through the depths as rubbish and muck sail through streets on the current.
Parked cars are submerged up to their bonnets – with some clearly flooded beyond repair.
Passengers arriving from a ferry can be seen having to wade through deep water, holding their luggage aloft to avoid it being drenched.
An “extraordinary danger” red alert was slapped on the island on Tuesday as the tail of Storm Gabrielle brushed over the Balearics.
Vast areas of eastern Spain were also battered by floods, as well as the island of Sicily across the Med.
Spain was forced to draft in the army and police reinforcements to help guide Ibiza through the treacherous floods.
A helicopter buzzed members of a specialist Armed Forces unit into the island from a mainland army base near Valencia.
Troops from the Military Emergencies Unit (UME), which were used in last October’s deadly floods in Valencia, were also deployed to Ibiza.
The Civil Guard revealed this morning it had rescued an astonishing 148 people from flooded properties and stricken cars in 59 separate operations.
One horrifying picture they posted showed a car disappearing under flood water with just its number plate visible.
In others they were seen helping people to safety using a rope and float aids to guide them.
Some operations were particularly complex – such as when a girl, a woman, two men, and two dogs were floated across turbulent water on a paddleboard in the midst of the storm.
At least two people were reported to have been seriously injured.
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The five-star Ibiza Gran Hotel in Ibiza announced today it was closing “immediately” in the face of the freak flooding.
Hotel bosses blamed damage to the electrical systems for the decision.
The notice came hours after it emerged three people had been injured when rocks came crashing down on a hotel near Figueretas Beach in Ibiza Town during a storm-caused landslide.
The hotel on Ibiza Town seafront made the announcement as city mayor Rafael Triguero said he would ask the Spanish government to declare it a disaster zone and other hotels said they were studying whether to close up early.
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More than 40 extra officers arrived from Mallorca on Tuesday to reinforce the units already deployed on the island – including mountain rescue members.
Many public facilities such as sports centres and parks were closed, and a nursery had to be evacuated in Ibiza town.
Footage posted online showed raging torrents of floodwater smashing down residential streets and buffeting cars
The roads resembled fast-moving rivers as the waterlogged island struggled beneath the staggering quantity of water.
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One clip even showed it raining inside Ibiza Airport’s security hall – with water pouring through the ceiling.
Ibiza town, the island’s capital, urged residents to avoid travel and remain indoors, and warned against approaching streams, low-lying areas or basements.
The town fell into “complete meltdown”, according to local newspaper Periodico di Ibiza.
Valencia was also knocked for six by flooding, with the worst of the effects felt on Monday.
And severe flooding in Sicily today left residents of some villages unable to leave their homes.
