Before and after images of the floods in Spain show parts of the country under water

CNN
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The deadly flooding that rocked Spain this week after heavy, historic rains is so extensive and severe that the area looked like an inland sea from space.

A year's worth of rain fell in just a few hours on Tuesday in east-central Spain, triggering a wave of floods that collapsed river banks, turned roads into raging rapids and washed away cars and bridges.

At least 155 people died in the catastrophic floods – an extreme rainfall event that is becoming all too common as the world warms due to fossil fuel pollution.

Parts of the area now look like an extension of the Balearic Sea after unprecedented rainfall turned what was supposed to be dry ground into a vast expanse of water, satellite images from October 30 show.

Floods appear in various shades of blue and cover the dry ground (browns and greens) earlier this month, images show. The dramatic, widespread flooding of inland areas has almost turned coastal areas into islands.

Waterways that were hardly noticeable in the “before”. Satellite images from earlier this month – like the one that runs just south of Valencia city center – are now highlighted in bright blue, suggesting how swollen they have become.

Dozens of people remain missing since Thursday as rescue and recovery efforts continue.

This week's torrential rains were about 12% heavier and twice as likely as in a pre-industrial climate before humans began burning fossil fuels, according to a quick analysis by World Weather Attribution. In Chiva, west of Valencia, 19 inches of rain fell in eight hours on Tuesday, according to the country's weather agency, AEMET.

Immediately after extreme weather events, rapid analysis is carried out by analyzing data and climate models to determine what role climate change has played.

CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller and CNN's Laura Paddison contributed to this report.