In Valencia, thousands of volunteers have continued to flock since Wednesday to find those missing from the deadly floods. More than welcome help, the Valencian authorities seeming overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster which killed at least 211 people. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recognized this Saturday that the response was “not sufficient”, and announced the sending of 5,000 additional soldiers and 5,000 police officers, in addition to the 2,000 soldiers already deployed.
But this situation does not seem to calm the anger of many people living in the disaster areas, who feel that they have not been sufficiently supported by the local authorities. The regional agency and its president, the conservative Carlos Mazón, are also accused of not having acted quickly enough.
More than 13 hours actually passed on Tuesday, between the moment when the meteorological services issued the red alert, and when the Valencians received a message telling them to stay at home, when the water had already surged in their streets. The regional president also published a tweet during the day stating that the storm “should subside around 6 p.m.”. Before deleting it, the sequel proving him tragically wrong.
