Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia were pelted with mud by crowds during their visit to the region last week, as anger fermented among communities who said they felt abandoned by authorities in the wake of the natural disaster, with troops and police deployed to assist communities in affected areas.

Barcelona’s transport system ground to a halt, as Catalonia was the latest Spanish region to be hit by extreme storms that killed more than 200 people in neighboring Valencia last week.

The water was already knee-high on the ground floor of the hotel where Aitana Puchal had taken refugee 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.

The catastrophic torrential rains that overflowed rivers and normally dry canals in eastern Spain last week triggered flash floods that submerged entire communities and killed scores of people.