According to the latest report published by the emergency services of the Valencia region, the most bereaved by the real tsunami which buried dozens of localities Tuesday evening and during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, 202 people died in this community alone. To this number are added three other deaths occurring in two neighboring regions.
Three days after this tragedy, calls for help and poignant testimonies from residents left to their own devices and lacking everything are multiplying on radios and televisions, with state aid being awaited.
In Paiporta, a martyr town of 25,000 inhabitants which has already recorded 62 deaths, a crowd of people, deprived of water and electricity and without access to a business for three days, formed a queue on Friday in front of a pick-up point. improvised distribution.
«The most important thing is food and water“, told AFP Ramón Vicente, 73, who came with his wife.
Survivors also have to face acts of looting and theft. The police announced that they had already detained 50 people.
To deal with the situation, 500 additional soldiers were deployed Friday morning in the region and 500 others will be deployed on Saturday, the president of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazón, and the Minister of the Interior announced to the press, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
These reinforcements will bring the number of soldiers deployed in the Valencia region to 2,200.
Proof of the seriousness of the situation, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, assured that the government was ready to send “the 120,000 men of the army if necessary» and leave them there as long as necessary.
The army’s priorities are to reopen the roads to allow the delivery of aid, particularly food, but also to help in the search for missing people, the exact number of which is not known, but is very high. .
“They didn’t warn us”
The government recognized Thursday that there were “dozens and dozens», suggesting an extraordinarily heavy human toll and undoubtedly unprecedented for a natural disaster in the contemporary history of Spain.
An officer from the Civil Guard divers unit (equivalent to the Gendarmerie), Commander Pizarro, declared on public radio that the discovery of bodies was “permanente».
«There are mountains of cars» in the mud, testified Amparo Fort, the mayor of Chiva, a town near Valencia. “Many are empty, but for others it is clear that they have occupants».
Alerted too late to the seriousness of the situation, many people were surprised in their cars. The incomprehension and anger of the residents persisted 72 hours after the tragedy.
«They didn’t warn us“, accused Isabel Ruiz, 58, who was patiently waiting to receive help in Paiporta.
«The disaster would have happened, because it cannot be avoided, but people living in low places could have taken shelter“, she assures. “The alarm was sent (Editor’s note: on cell phones) when the water was already up to our knees.».
Directly accused, particularly in the press, Mr. Mazón, the president of the Valencia region, has not yet responded to these criticisms.
“Let them go home”
In this dismal panorama, Friday, a public holiday in Spain, nevertheless gave rise to tremendous spontaneous demonstrations of solidarity.
In the morning, thousands of people – carrying brooms, shovels, food and even diapers – left Valencia, a city which was not affected by the floods, on foot to go to devastated neighboring towns. .
«We took what we found at home“, commented Federico Martínez.
The number of these volunteers was such that the authorities called on them to stay at home. “It is imperative, imperative, that they return home” so as not to hinder traffic, said Mr. Mazón, adding that he was considering restrictive measures “not only for vehicles, but also for pedestrians».
If the sun shone on Valencia on Friday, vigilance remained in order in certain areas of southern Spain.
The National Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has warned that heavy rainfall will continue this weekend.
The red alert (maximum risk level) decreed in the morning in the province of Huelva, in Andalusia (southwest of the country, bordering Portugal), was however reduced to the lower level (orange).
Furthermore, Pope Francis expressed on Friday “his solidarity with the people of Valencia». «May God support those who suffer and those who help», he declared at the end of the Angelus prayer.
Par Le360 (with AFP)
02/11/2024 at 07:02 a.m.
