“The on-site relief resources are not immediately sufficient,” laments Gentil De Passos, head of mission at the French Disaster Relief Group (GSCF), Monday on franceinfo.
Published on 04/11/2024 22:23
Reading time: 2min
Firefighter Gentil De Passos, head of mission at the French Disaster Relief Group (GSCF) for Spain, said Monday, November 4 on franceinfo that he “felt” the feeling of abandonment of the Spaniards, returning from a relief mission in Valencia, where recent floods left at least 217 dead.
“We were the first responders on site,” testifies Gentil De Passos, who says “surprised” that the Valencians indicated that the French firefighters were the first they saw. “Of course there was anger. People are tired, traumatized, they lost everything,” says the head of the GSCF. “We can understand why people are this angry.”
The firefighter points out that it is a “disaster of very large scale, very violent, as violent as what we can see in tsunamis in Asia or elsewhere.” “I don’t think anyone expected it.” He explains that relief “Also had access problems. All the roads were blocked by cars. So it was also complicated for the emergency services to be able to access the entire population quickly enough.”
Gentil De Passos estimates that the provisional number of deaths will “greatly increase”, notably “in the underground”car “People wanted to recover the cars when the water started to rise. But it rose so quickly that they were trapped”. “There is also a lot of mud, meters and meters of mud, he continues, so obviously the figure will increase, that’s obvious.”
The fact that areas have not yet been rescued is “a little incomprehensible”judges the French firefighter. “When we left, there was a lot of help coming from all over Spain.” He found that there was “still parking lots flooded”. He deplores the “little” resources deployed, then “that there are pumps in France or elsewhere, or even at the GSCF, which deliver 360 cubic meters.” “So there would be the possibility of going a little faster.” For Gentil De Passos, “the means” emergency services on site “are not sufficient enough in the immediate future.”
France
