Chiva, Paiporta, Valencia region (Spain), report
« I thought my time had come, I prayed that my children would make it »tries to tell Inma in tears, still shaken by the events. This mother lives right next to the river that runs through the community of Chiva, a few dozen kilometers south of Valencia. A village which was transformed into real hell on Tuesday.
« At first I wasn't too worriedshe said, then I saw the water rising minute by minute from my living room window and I saw part of the street collapse with my car into the river. There, I understood that it was serious. ».
Inma in front of the end of his street, carried away by the flooded river.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
Distraught, waiting for instructions or help from the authorities, she decided to flee, on foot, with her two children and a pregnant neighbor. « It was like an ocean, I don't know how we managed to get out of it »she said before breaking down in tears. Part of his neighbor's house, on the side of the river, was swept away by the power of the waters. « We were lucky, we are miracles. »
A year of rain in a few hours
Not everyone has had this chance. The toll, still provisional, is extremely heavy. At least 217 dead and many people still missing. In Chiva, a year's worth of precipitation fell in just a few hours. The river carried away everything in its path. On every street corner in the city center, end-of-world landscapes bear witness to the violence and power of tragedy. The damage is immense, reflecting the anger of the residents.
Many flood survivors believe they are miraculous.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
At the end of Rue d'Inma, a simple plastic warning tape blocks access to the collapsed street. « Don't go there, I tell you, it's dangerous »Mariá repeats to every passer-by, from the top of her window on the second floor.
« Children were returning from school by bus when everything happened »
« You see, I have to act as police, there is no one here to help us. Where are they ? What a shame »deplores the sixty-year-old, who says that a few police officers simply came to see the damage. « It's a total disaster, so many lives lost. Children were coming back from school by bus when everything happened, can you imagine »she says before having to stop to cry for several long minutes.
Volunteers are working in this city which will require a lot of effort to clean and repair.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
A few kilometers away, in Paiporta, there are the same scenes of desolation, and the same anger against the authorities, accused of having sent the alert to the telephones too late. « When we received the alert around 8 p.m., there was already water everywhere. It was like the movie The Impossible [1]un tsunami »said Andrea with tears in her eyes. She came with her family to clean up her property, where several of her horses died, drowned.
« We knew this storm was coming, why didn't they warn us before? ? I have friends who are still missing, children have died in my street, swept away by the water. Others were stuck in the supermarket's underground parking lot. I don't have the words »she said before being interrupted by fire and ambulance sirens. « God, I hope he's not dead yet »she hopes, with tears in her eyes.
In Paiporta, several people died in the streets invaded by water.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
A few streets away, Isabel was scared of her life. When the water rose dangerously, she was on a road in her car. She was stuck there all night, before she was able to escape. She is angry too: « How can we not predict this and why has no one come to bring us water yet? ? »
Mud for the king
« We are a big country, we send humanitarian aid around the world, but how we, only a few minutes from a big city, no one comes to see us ? she continues. It's a shame, an absolute shame. We feel abandoned. » On Sunday, an angry crowd threw mud at King Felipe VI and the Spanish Prime Minister who were visiting there, while shouting to them « assassins ».
« It's a shame, an absolute shame. We feel abandoned », says Isabel de Paiporta.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
Faced with this lack of help from the authorities, denounced from all sides, citizen solidarity movements were quickly organized, particularly via social networks. Thousands of people flock every day from almost everywhere. We see them on the sides of the roads, sometimes walking several kilometers pushing supermarket trolleys, filled with foodstuffs and bottles of water.
Hector is one of them. With friends, he came to help clear the streets of downtown Paiporta, filled with mud and debris. « The situation is really difficult for these people, it's a struggle. They have nothing to eat or drink, there is little help. People no longer have cars to get around, so some start looting »explains the young man, who shows us in the distance a house where elderly people were found dead, trapped in their basement. A passerby calls out to him. « Thank you for what you do, fortunately we can count on you, you give us hope »she said, very moved.
Hector came with friends to help clear the streets of Paiporta.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
In Chiva, dozens of buses continue to bring numerous volunteers, who have come to lend a helping hand to the victims. « We got in touch on WhatsApp. I didn't hesitate for a single second. We just want to help them, what they went through is unimaginable »explains Nacho, who has just arrived there with a friend. The equipment is rudimentary, a shovel, a broom, plastic gloves and a mask. That same day, several volunteers were poisoned by carbon monoxide while carrying out research in a garage.
« I didn't think there would be so many volunteers, all this solidarity is incredible. »
As night falls, the large bridges that connect Valencia to communities further south, which have been flooded, are crowded. Hundreds of volunteers are marching towards the city, returning from disaster areas. Dirty with mud, brooms and shovels on her back, Yovana, has just brought help all day with relatives: « We left at 8 a.m. this morning, we went to clean streets and homes. »
She responded to a call made on Instagram: « These people are living a nightmare, no one is coming to help them, so we do what we can. » Everywhere, thousands of people responded to these calls for solidarity. « I can't believe it, I didn't think there would be so many volunteers. It’s incredible, all this solidarity, it warms the heart »adds the young woman.
Isabel tries to clean the entrance to her building. The water receded, leaving the streets under a thick layer of mud.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
In this region south of Valencia, traveling a few dozen kilometers can sometimes take several long hours. The damage, enormous and impressive, makes travel difficult. Fridges and sofas are stranded in the middle of a highway, a supermarket parking lot is still under a pile of water and debris, while dozens of car wrecks blend into the landscape.
In Beniparrell, an entire industrial zone was devastated. Valentín came with his wife, Adriana, to see the damage in his warehouse, where he makes doors. « We are self-employed, we have no insurance, we have lost everythinghe laments, estimating the losses at several tens of thousands of euros. I don't know how we will recover from this, we also lost our cars and our truck, we have never experienced that. »
The torrential rains also caused serious damage to fruit crops in the region.
© Romain Chauvet / Reporterre
A little further away, farmers come to see the damage in the fields, sometimes still under water. The torrential rains caused heavy damage in this region known for its oranges, citrus fruits and even persimmons. « There are entire fields torn up as if there had been a tornado. Years of work gone like that, it's a disaster »explains Pablo, who grows oranges not far from Silla.
« I have a lot of losses, it will affect the quantity of my orange production, but what can I do about it »Pablo resigns himself, as the harvest season was about to begin. The trauma is immense throughout this region which now fears having to face further rainfall and seeing the toll rise further.
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