On the afternoon of Tuesday, October 29, dominican Carmen Valdera and her husband of Spanish origin watched on television what was happening about five minutes away. town where they reside on the outskirts of ValenciaSpain, unaware that the water was already reaching their door.
A video that arrived on her husband’s cell phone was what set off the alarms exhaust of the dominicanwho well recognizes, is used to this type of disaster, contrary to her husband, who entered into shockmaking the woman fight to survive on behalf of both.
“We are saved from hump“says the dominican that, after seeing the video, She convinced her husband to get to safety and pick up some things. But “I didn’t have time to get to the rooms because when I opened the door we had water at the door for two minutes. That was quick,” the woman still recalled. moved for what happened.
“Now I am reacting due to the catastrophe. Because of course, when you see this, you react to save your life, to run, but there was not much to run because this has been very strong,” says the native of La Vega, who When he ran with the few things he managed to grab and opened the door of his house, he realized that the water had already taken over the streets of his house. Catarrojaan agricultural municipality in the Spanish province.
He says that the area where he lives is shared with only about three families and that days before the tragedy he town and the situation in general “has been a disaster”, which has prevented them from leaving or the entry of people. He said that so far only two people were able to walk to them with aid in their hands because the vehicles still cannot pass and two other neighbors who managed to get an alternate entrance.
“It’s all impassable And, of course, imagine, I woke up on the dining room table because it was a complete mess in my patio. rivera river “That was scary at three in the morning, and I had no choice but to get on the dining room table and wait for it to start going down,” remembering the morning after the floods.
Valdera narrated with a certain joy in the midst of the sorrows that today at least he will be able to sleep in a dry bed, thanks to a couple who entered the town and helped them clean a little, these people represent the only aid that the residents of the place have received since the floods on Tuesday, according to the dominican.
Although it has not been able to reach aid from abroad due to the terrible situation they face, the dominican highlighted that the authorities of the Valencian Community have been waiting and calling her from the moment the incident occurred. tragedy.
The dominican shared with Free Diary images of the situation town at nightfall, which reflected that muddy water still covers the streets, while jars with plants, chairs, tools and agricultural equipment are found on the ground, as evidence of the floodswhich have already claimed the lives of more than 200 people, a figure that is estimated to continue to grow.
“It has been very difficult, very hard. We are all devastatedvery sad. I have not been able to go to townI haven’t been able to lend a hand. Besides, they haven’t been able to come and lend a hand to me,” Valdera expresses with regret and affectation.
The situation in his house is no different, the water entered and entered his stove, his pantry and damaged his clothes, furniture, without hope of cleanbecause they still have no water, no electricity and the threat of more floods.
“I woke up (on the table) at five in the morning, as it started to go down a little, that’s when I got off the table. We were in the water here splashing. In the water all the kitchen cabinets, the washing machine, the dishwasher, the refrigerator, that whole part was filled with water. The whole lower part of the cabinets, shoes, everything that was there was bathed.
He danger has not ceased
Carmen Valdera tells in conversation with Free Diary that the threat persists, since the authorities have warned of the possibility that the river Turia, who dies in the Mediterranean Sea after crossing Valenciaoverflows due to the influence of a dam overflowing.
After speaking with the dominicanthe Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat reported that it is monitoring the state of the Buseo reservoir, located in the municipality of Chera (Valencia), which remains in Scenario 2, with stable levels and seems to be starting to go down.
“What has happened is terrible, but the luck is that the people, the Dominicanand the Valencians, they are all people supportive and they have run to town“, reflects Valdera.
“I thank God, despite everything, the situation we are in, that I am alive. I never tire of being grateful that I am alive”Dominican Republic affected by floods in Valencia.
The dominican expressed his wish that the rains stop for the arrival aidsince she and her husband do not have conditions to move to the center of the town and buy essential supplies, but despite suffering from his spine, Valdera says that he has had to “move forward.”
“We hope that from tomorrow (Saturday) onwards, if it doesn’t rain, someone else can come because we are separated, we are alone,” he said.
A tragedy unexpected
When asked about the floods on Tuesday, the dominican explained that the rains They occurred on Monday night and in the morning of the next day they had stopped, so the floods They were more unexpected.
It indicates that there were repeated warnings about the arrival of DANA, But residents were expecting a cold front, not rivers to burst their banks. However, the rains In other towns they did cause an increase in the flow of the rivers, which led to the tragedy.
He explained, according to what he has heard, that the water took the drains, which are dry rivers, up to the height of the bridges and “as the water went up the bridges, that was when it overflowed, it had nowhere to go and it swept through the towns. And that was the situation. But in the afternoon when that happened, not a drop of water fell, not a single drop of water,” he reiterated.
Near where he lives, in the early hours of Wednesday, when the water began to subside, a tornado. He says that from his place, on the table, and through its glass windows, he managed to see how the phenomenon “was dragging everything away.”
“Look, I remember the Cyclone David because I lived it in the flesh, but this was worse than that. It was worse. The luck is that the houses are in better condition. Even so, there were some houses that were also taken in the town. Some houses that were already very old,” he explained.
The next day, Valdera explains that all the things in a kitchen in the patio of the house were scattered on the floor “as if a mixer had passed.”
“They warned that it was going to fall because it was raining and that they should take precautions, but imagine… people never believe it until they see it.”Dominican affected in the Valencia floods
About him ceiling of a church meters from its children
Robert Santosalso Dominican, told Free Diary that when it all started, last Tuesday, he was at the entrance of his house and the water was already at his door, so he had to go back and get ready to protect the two cars from the water, however, at a short distance He had to get out through the vehicle window because the water pressure no longer allowed him to open the doors.
To get to safety, he and his wife had to climb to the top of the church. townwhere he remained from after five in the afternoon until dawn, one meter from his three children aged 17, seven and one, who were alone in their house.
The man says he felt the urge to jump into the water to check on his childrenwith whom he could not communicate due to problems with the telephone lines, but he restrained himself and a message from his eldest daughter calmed him down, giving them instructions to get to safety.
And from a distance, the Dominican says that “with the phone, with the light, I made signs to my daughter and that. That’s how we were. Until two in the morning,” at which time they were able to reunite with their children.
When coming down from ceilingthe water was still very current and was up to their knees, but it allowed them to reach the house.
Santos says that he was able to contact the authorities Dominicans at 9 pm on Thursday, when the power came to where he resides and that on Friday morning he received drinking water.
An acquaintance of Santos and a businessmanare other of the Dominicans who were affected by the floods.
“I, as far as possible, am not so bad because I did not lose anything. I only lost the vehicles, but that is material. That can be recovered. But there are friends who have lost everything in their homes. The truth is that they are on the street, they are in a neighbor’s house,” said the Dominican, who also spoke about Yunior HenrrÃquez, about whom a video of how his house turned out.
Santos said HenrrÃquez lives in an area below his house. Henriquez lost everything in the floodsbut he, his pregnant wife and two daughters managed to survive.
The Dominican consul in Valencia Gloria Guevara reported that this Friday she met with a Dominican to bring some donations to the Creole families affected by the floods in Valencia, but indicated that they could not arrive because the police restricted passage to the area and only allowed the entry of essential personnel to carry out the rescue work carried out by the provincial authorities.
Guevara reported that so far the country has not received alerts about missing persons or deaths of Dominican origin, although there are already reports of victims, which at the moment are at least seven families, four of them contacted the consulate on Wednesday. The consul anticipates that these numbers may vary.
Guevara also indicated that work continues to relocate families with acquaintances, however, he warned that these processes in Spain are a bit difficult, especially in the midst of a tragedy, caused by the floods that are already considered the worst in a century.
