The death toll from the devastating storms and flooding that struck eastern and southern Spain more than a week ago has risen to 219 as rescue workers continue their search for victims, according to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Valencia, Spain, has reached 217, officials announced Sunday, as the search for survivors -- and bodies -- continued in devastated cities and towns left caked in mud and strewn with debris.

Rescue teams are still searching for those missing in what could become Europe's worst storm-related disaster in over five decades.