Authorities were still searching for victims and clearing streets still filled with mud and debris in the Spanish region of Valenciaa week after the devastating floods that left 218 dead.
“We are better, but we are not well,” he summarized Tuesday morning Maribel Albalat, mayor of Paiporta, a town near the city of Valencia, which gives its name to the region, considered the epicenter of the catastrophe with more than 70 deaths.
In this city of 25,000 inhabitantswhich has already recovered drinking water but not electricity in its entirety, “100% of the homes, 100% of the businesses have been affected,” Albalat told public television TVE.
Like every day after the catastrophe caused last Tuesday by stormy rains – in some places what rain fell in a year fell in hours – an army of volunteers with shovels and buckets arrive to this and other devastated areas to help in the cleanup. . But to remove vehicles piled up by the force of floods, professional teams are needed.
“We need machinery, we need professional people to come and clean the streets, so that people can go down and start building their houses, their businesses,” added the mayor.
Floods in Spain: Valencia continues searching for victims and cleaning up a week after the catastrophe
To face the enormous cost of the catastrophe, the regional government of Valencia has already arranged €250 million (US$270 million), with tax exemptions and compensation, and Parliament validated on Tuesday direct aid of €30 million (US$32 million) for affected people.
The president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchezannounce a series of measures for the devastated areas after the council of ministers this Tuesday, according to the Spanish media.
A week after the historic floods, the provisional death toll rises to 218 deaths, 214 in Valencia alone, three in Castilla-la-Mancha and one in Andalusia.
The courts have already authorized the delivery of “about fifty bodies” of the deceased to their relatives, indicated the Superior Court of Justice of Valencia on the social network X.
The priority is still locating those missing due to the floods
The operations are focused on parking lots and underground buildings, which were completely flooded and have not yet been fully inspected.
The Military Emergency Unit (UME)a body that acts in the event of disasters, installed numerous pumps to bail out the water.
Divers managed to enter the underground parking lot of a large shopping center on Monday in Aldaiaa town of 31,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Valencia.
The expectation was maximum since of its 5,700 seats, almost half are underground, and many false news have even circulated about what can be found there. But so far, authorities have not recovered any bodies.
In Picanya there are still neighbors who have not appeared, said Josep Almenar, the mayor of this town, who a week after the floods is still fighting to “remove the garbage” and cars from the streets.
The state meteorology agency, Aemet, assured on Monday that the “meteorological crisis” over Valencia had finally ended. But the crisis continues.
“Sixth day already, sixth day, only the people help, only the people, only the solidarity of the people. And where are the politicians? Where are they?” asked Matilde Gregori, owner of a destroyed store in the city of Sedaví.
This exasperation was seen in all its scope on Sunday when a delegation with the kings of Spainhe President of the Government, Pedro Sánchezand the regional president of Valencia, Carlos Mazónwas received in Paiporta with shouts of “murderers” and with the throwing of mud balls, sticks and other objects.
Source: Ambito
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