ROCHESTER, N.Y. — More than 200 people have been confirmed dead after devastating flash floods stormed southeastern Spain last week. The Spanish government sent 5,000 soldiers to help distribute food, clean the streets and continue rescue efforts over the weekend. On Monday, it was announced that it is deploying 2,500 more troops to the area. More than 4,500 people have been rescued, but officials say more than 1,000 people are still missing. The towns surrounding the city of Valencia are seeing the most damage.

“It’s been horrible," Spanish college student Paula Gascón Selma said. "And being away from my home city, it’s hard to not be there. It’s so hard to be here and not be able to help in any possible way."

“It’s quite sad to see your town like that, and the surroundings and everything because it’s just horrible,” Carla Torralba Hernandez, another Spanish college student studying in New York for the semester, agreed.

Hernandez is from Albal, a town South of Valencia, in Spain, were all her family and friends remain. It’s one of the areas impacted by last week’s flash floods.

“It all started around 6 p.m., and the alarm went off at 8 p.m.," Hernandez said. "So everything was flooded by then."

“It’s actually a situation that none of us could ever expect," Selma said. "And, yeah, some families are going through a really difficult moment. A lot of people have lost their cars. You can see mountains of cars. You can see the houses. They are full of water. You can see that the water went all over the ceilings of the houses. The furniture is destroyed. And it’s really sad to see all of that.”

“All my friends and family are there," Hernandez said. "All of them have been affected. All the houses, our business, my car, everything has been affected."

Hernandez lost contact with many of her loved ones during the storm.

“My stepdad, he had to sleep in a building, on the stairs of a building because he didn’t know anything about what’s happening," she said. "He couldn’t go out because the water was getting the cars and stuff so he had to stop. We didn’t know anything about him. It was 13 hours without knowing anything about my dad. No one knew anything. So it’s been a hard time.”

She was on the phone with her close friend who was going to check on his car during the storm when they lost connection.

“He was holding to a brick wall, and he was there for the whole night with the water getting to his chest, and he was like, ‘OK. This is the only option I have," she recalled. "'I hold on here or I die'. He’s like, 'It’s been the worst night of my life.' It’s been so hard. You can’t imagine how hard it was."

She went two days without sleep while awaiting updates from her loved ones back home.

“I couldn’t go to class because I was so sad. I was crying all the time,” Hernandez explained, “It’s quite hard being so far. They say, ‘It’s better for you not to see this, or not to live this.' But then you think, OK, my family’s there. My family’s suffering. So I want to be there.”

She says the next day, a friend was walking along the street to assess her family’s damage when the friend found her grandfather floating in the remaining water.

“She found her grandfather on the street floating," she said. "So everything’s been like that. Floating all over the streets and it’s been horrible."

Both students are missing home while their country is uniting.

“It's actually really, really, really sad. I couldn't see the images," Hernandez said. "I don't I didn't want to see anymore and my family was sending me things. But I was like, I cannot see these anymore because I'm not there. I'm like anxious to help. I can not help. I'm seeing my town ruined. I can’t do anything from here because I'm too far. So, it’s really, really hard. You’re really anxious to go and help. But it’s devastating."

Tragedy is bringing the country together. Both of Selma and Hernandez’ families have shared videos of the community singing the Valencian anthem together, in addition to videos online of thousands of people singing the song during public events, like soccer games, across the country.

“I feel very emotional because that anthem is really important for us," Selma said. "And it shows how everyone is together to help each other. And that’s really cool. Some people don't have food. They don’t have water. They don’t have electricity. And that’s really hard. And that’s what the volunteers are working on. You can see the full City of Valencia full of people buying groceries and water in order to give them to those affected areas.”

Selma’s family has joined thousands of other Spanish volunteers in relief efforts.

“You can see thousands of people walking to the affected areas to just help, to see if they can do something even though they don’t know each other. They just knock the doors [and say] ‘can I help?’. And that’s beautiful. And that’s something we get to see in these situations,” she smiled, “We can see how the Spanish, especially the Valencia culture, is. We can see how we care about everyone and how we go to help everyone when they need it.”

While Hernandez is thankful for the support to her loved ones while she is unable, she hopes the assistance lasts.

“Everyone’s really interested in helping and donating and stuff," she explained. "But this is what I think: Now they’re helping a lot, but this is not a problem, like a three-day problem. This is a really big problem that they will have to keep helping, and keep donating because there’s people that have lost their house. They’ve lost their business. Everyone’s helping a lot, but I think a big part is for them to keep in mind that it’s not like a three-day problem. They’ve got to help a lot.”

Both girls are eager to return home to be with family at the end of their semesters in December. However, they fear the water could be a source of infection for volunteers throughout relief efforts in coming weeks, or even months.