the essential
After a first donation campaign for Valence in November, a couple from Ariégeois gathered toys and materials to offer Christmas gifts to flood victims.
Car graveyards, mud in garages, the traces of waves on the walls of buildings, so many scars of the deadly floods experienced in the province of Valencia on October 29 and 30. Little by little, the municipalities are rebuilding, but at this end of year period, spirits are not yet celebrating.
Carmen Rodriguez Garcia and Benoit Aubert arrived this Monday, December 23, at part of their family in Xirivella, west of Valencia, with a car and a van full of donations. “People dropped off toys at the store following the first donation campaign. The nannies from Séronais gave us materials that they had collected. We were only supposed to leave with a car but we had more things than expected,” laughs Benoit Aubert. On Christmas Eve, a distribution of gifts, accompanied by Santa Claus, was made in the towns surrounding Valencia, for children, but also puzzles for the elderly. Because as the couple tells it, due to flood damage, the elevators in certain buildings do not work, preventing people with reduced mobility from leaving their homes. “They were astonished and pleasantly surprised that the French brought this. These are simple things that bring a lot. There are fewer volunteers now, it is mainly private companies, the army and the firefighters,” they indicate.
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“I was frustrated to see my people helpless”: Ariège solidarity takes shape to help the victims of Valence
In towns affected by bad weather, Christmas decorations are not there to light up the streets. “They want to party but they don't have the mood for that. They move forward out of spite because they have to keep cleaning.”
“Some have lost everything”
On site, the people of Ariège observe the situation faced by the inhabitants of the province. “Some have lost everything, the mud has dried and it is very complicated to remove. Many have gone elsewhere,” regrets Carmen. They describe a desolate landscape in certain neighborhoods, graveyards of cars, some of which caught fire, cars caught in pylons at the side of the road. But what particularly marks the person responsible for Au feu ariégeois are the still present traces of the waves on the walls, almost two months after the events: “What is shocking is to say that there were water two meters high over such large areas, that must have been an impressive amount of water.”
In villages, schools and bars are open, some residents have connected cables on the fly to light building entrances. “They are moving forward little by little, cleaning up, but there is still mud. A lot of work has been done but there is a divide between part of a street that is still damaged and another that has been restored. Small craftsmen and businesses lack resources, there are for example shoemakers who have been there for generations”, describe the people of Sinsat. Catarroja, to the south, is made up of small houses and narrow streets, which has allowed the water to rise quickly. “It came like a tsunami, the railway line a little further away acted like a dike, which increased the water level.”
