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Floods in Spain: emergency services still fear discovering new victims
Search operations resumed on Monday in Spain, six days after the terrible floods which left at least 217 dead, the authorities fearing the discovery of new victims, notably in the parking lot of a shopping center in the suburbs of Valencia. of a chaotic day, during which an angry crowd greeted with insults and throwing mud the visit of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe VI to one of the localities most affected by the floods, the priority remains the location of the missing. Monday morning, the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet) assured that the “meteorological crisis” situation had ended in the Valencia region. On the other hand, it placed Barcelona and its metropolitan area, 350 kilometers further north, on red alert, where torrential rains began to fall. In the greater Barcelona area, commuter train traffic was suspended and a crisis committee established at Barcelona-El Prat international airport, where around fifteen flights were diverted, according to the authorities. According to a latest report , at least 217 people died in the floods that occurred last week: 213 in the Valencia region alone, three in Castilla-la Mancha and one in Andalusia. But the final number of victims could be higher: an unspecified number of residents are still missing and many underground car parks, completely flooded, have not yet been fully inspected. – “It could be terrible” – The authorities are particularly concerned about the situation of the underground parking lot in Bonaire, a vast shopping center in Aldaia, a town of 31,000 inhabitants in the suburbs of Valencia. With a capacity of 5,700 places, almost half of which are in the basement, the latter is completely flooded. “The shopping center is devastated in its upper part. And down below, it is a terrible unknown. We are not “I'm sure of what we're going to find,” Aldaia Mayor Guillermo Lujan told public television TVE. “We want to be careful” but “it can be terrible.” In recent days, the personnel of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), who intervene during natural disasters, have installed numerous pumps to begin evacuating the water. Divers have managed to penetrate underground, without finding any bodies for the moment. In the localities most affected by the floods, anger and distress still predominate, six days after the tragedy. Many streets remain blocked by piles of cars, mud and waste, and homes without telephone or electricity. “I was born here, and I lost everything,” Teresa Gisbert told AFP. , a resident of Sedavi, another disaster-stricken town in the suburbs of Valencia. In her house, a dark line of one meter of mud is visible, where the water has penetrated. “They told us + rain alert + but they should have told us about + flood +”, laments this 62-year-old woman. – “Error” – On Sunday, this feeling of helplessness transformed into a flood of anger when the king Felipe VI and Queen Letizia went with Pedro Sánchez and the conservative president of the Valencia region Carlos Mazón to Paiporta, a town considered to be the epicenter of the tragedy. “Assassins! Assassins!” exclaimed exasperated residents. Some people threw mud and various objects at the procession, while insults were poured out against the Prime Minister and Mr. Mazón, who were quickly evacuated by the security services. In extreme tension, the sovereigns received mud on their faces and their clothes, an episode undoubtedly without precedent in the history of the Spanish monarchy. Visibly moved, but impassive, they stayed for an hour to talk to residents before leaving. Transport Minister Oscar Puente admitted on television that this trip had perhaps not been organized at the best time, admitting “a possible error”.Due to the poor state of the roads and still rainy weather, the authorities maintained traffic restrictions on Monday on several axes in the Valencia region, where schools will remain closed all day.bur-vab/mdm /clr
