A call for help is being made by the mayor of Alfafar in Valencia, as the situation in the area is tragic and residents helpless after fatal floods left 158 people dead.
Juan Ramo Anchuara said there are people trapped living in an “extreme situation” “with bodies at home”.
“It’s very sad,” he said. “We are running out of everything,” he tells reporters.
“We go in trucks to Valencia, buy things and come back, but here we are completely forgotten,” he claims.
Meanwhile, rescue teams and volunteers are constantly searching for any survivors, but as the hours pass, hopes fade. At the same time, Spanish authorities say they expect an increase in the number of dead, as many – it is estimated – have died tragically inside cars and buildings.
Dead former Valencia academy player
Meanwhile, among the 158 dead is former Valencia academy footballer Jose Castillejo.
The 28-year-old player came from Valencia’s academy and made his way up to the K19s, before going on to play for Eldense, Bunol, Recambio Colón, Roda, Torre Levante and Villamarxad.
Sanchez: The phenomenon is not over
Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, who warned that “the phenomenon is not over“, urging citizens to stay indoors, has declared the region a disaster zone.
Infrastructure – roads, bridges, railways, services – have been destroyed. The courthouse in the Valencia building is temporarily being used as a place to transport the bodies of the citizens who died, as rescue crews search under tons of mud and debris dozens of missing people.
11 arrests for looting
Meanwhile, on the streets, Spanish army forces have been deployed as the situation threatens to spiral out of control: already, Spanish authorities report that eleven have been arrested as they took the opportunity to carry out looting (in shopping centres and cars), taking advantage of the chaos and desperation in the area.
“We are not thieves. But we have to feed our children,” says a desperate man, wielding baby food he takes for his baby from a flood-damaged supermarket. Tens of thousands of households remain without access to basic necessities, water and electricity.
The president of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazón, yesterday called for the assistance of the Spanish army to distribute food and essentials to those affected. The Sanchez government responded that it would send another 500 soldiers and militiamen, who are expected in the area this morning. But how will it distribute food when it cannot be transported to mud-covered Valencia?
Out of the debris, the layers of mud and stone left by the rushing waters in their wake, causing the worst natural disaster in Spain’s history (and the second deadliest flood in Europe after Germany’s) emerges the horror. In areas that appear to have been hit by a tsunami, rescue teams are searching through cars piled up like toys and buried houses, under uprooted trees and objects, for bodies. Fears are being expressed that many of the missing are buried under the tons of mud that have covered Valencia.
More than a thousand soldiers have been tasked with the duty of searching from car to car and door to door for bodies. As rushing waters turned narrow streets into deadly traps, and as rivers ran through homes and businesses – which were functioning – they swept away everything in sight. Cars, people, animals, even bridges. And they discover horrible stories from those eight hours of flooding. Like that of the eight people who were found dead in an apartment building garage after drowning trying to get their cars and escape.
But even for those who survived, the situation is dire. Thousands are homeless and wandering the streets desperately looking for something to eat. But there are also trapped. Residents of Valencia say that in many homes, people who did not have time to escape are trapped inside their homes, where the water is up to their waists. They are reporting cases of people who have had the mud block the doors and windows of their homes blocked and they remain trapped inside.
Valencia’s Mestalla stadium, where the local team were due to take on Real Madrid tomorrow, has been turned into a relief center for flood victims. The derby has been postponed as the team has turned its attention to helping local residents in need.
At the same time, amid fears of a disease outbreak, Spain’s Agriculture Ministry is coordinating the rapid removal of animals drowned in Valencia’s farms and stables by the flooding.
