“Our politicians did not understand what was happening”

Sadness. Anger. And lots of questions. Valencia remains in a state of shock after the floods of October 29 which killed 210 people, according to a provisional report, and caused considerable destruction in several towns in the city and the region. Thousands of volunteers continued to flock to the most affected areas on Saturday and Sunday to help their fellow citizens. With the feeling, very widely shared, of filling the deficiencies of the authorities, a criticism strongly expressed to the king, the prime minister and the regional president, Sunday, insulted, under the jets of projectiles, by several hundred people during A particularly eventful visit to Paiporta, one of the towns with the most deaths and where chaos reigned for several days.

The anger is equal to the feeling of abandonment. If thousands of volunteers put on their boots, bought basic necessities and walked kilometers on foot to distribute them, sometimes carrying tens of kilos on their shoulders, it was out of solidarity with their neighbors. But also because public resources were sorely lacking the first three days, leading elected officials in several cities to call for help on several occasions.

“We need food and doctors”declared Friday, at Monde, the mayor of Chiva, Amparo Fort. The mobilization began to become truly visible and effective on Saturday, the day when significant new reinforcements were announced by the government. “We are very, very angry at the politicians and the way they have handled the crisis. Both regionally and nationally”annoys Juan Banilla, 60 years old, local civil servant. With his colleague, Jose Fernando Quintanilla, 66, he put on his hiking gear on Saturday and offered to help the survivors of the wave.

Lack of coordination

“We are all terrified by what happened, the number of dead and missing. The affected cities resemble war zones. But our politicians did not understand what was happening”regrets the official, while waiting for his turn to board a bus to reach a flooded area and go shoveling mud or removing rubble.

In the line of volunteers, Paula Roselto, 24, psychologist, intervenes: “We knew before about the hurricane in Florida, but not here, why? » The young woman came with three friends to help. “France offered to send firefighters and our ministers said no. For what ? They didn't understand the extent of the crisis? »asks Carolina Marco, 18 years old, student. “We can all understand that we cannot stop the flood. But we could ask people not to go to work on Tuesday afternoon, that would have changed so many things”she continues. Same thing for the late alert received on cell phones. A relative of the young women received the notification asking not to go out even though he had taken refuge in a tree – he stayed there for five hours. “Valencia was not prepared for this kind of crisis. But this raises many other questions. On the management of flood zones. On the organization of public services »continue Paula Rosetto.

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