Spain's traumatised Valencia region emerged unscathed from an urgent rain alert on Thursday, two weeks after the country's deadliest floods in decades killed more than 200 people there.The October 29 disaster killed 224 people -- almost all in the Valencia region -- as well as destroying homes,

A mud-covered frame holding a wet, disintegrating photo was one of the most precious things that Ana Piedra Carbonell managed to salvage when floodwaters swept away her mother's house in the eastern Spanish town of Algemesi.

Spain evacuated thousands of residents and closed schools on Wednesday as torrential rains lashed the country two weeks after its worst floods in a generation killed more than 220 people.- 'Prevention better than cure' - The rain meant schools and universities closed across large parts of Valencia,

The flash floods were caused by heavy rain, which by Wednesday morning had begun "easing off," according to the country's meteorological agency.

Spain's national weather agency put parts of the eastern Valencia region under the highest alert level for rain on Wednesday, two weeks after floods killed more than 200 people there. National weather agency AEMET issued a red alert lasting until midday (1100 GMT) on Thursday for the Valencia coast,