We joined a hundred or so volunteers are helping at Valencia’s World Central Kitchen to provide hot meals for people in locations effected by the floods of a month ago.
They are very well organized. When we arrived, we first had to check in. I was not registered so they took my name and phone number. You can register on Telegram if you have the group link. Then we visited the assignment board. Two volunteers had a long list of activities. The cooking was already started so there were three sections for packaging the food. Then there was the delivery process, broken down by location. Each activity had the number of people needed notated with phone numbers.
At the packaging stations, there was a table set up to receive the huge paella pans. Two or three people placed portions in the sturdy containers. These were passed down to several people who installed the lids. Then people placed the containers in large gray insulated boxes. These were then placed in vans either provided by volunteers or rented by WCK.
There were no shortages of materials or labor. There was coffee for the volunteers and a bathroom that looked totally normal that had been dropped in by WCT when they arrived.
WCT was founded 2010 by Spanish American chef José Andrés to help in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. It has served millions of meals since then. They are sometimes located in war zones, and there have been several fatalities.
There is still a lot of clean up left to do. This photo shows this location unchanged since the flood. This does not signify a lack of effort but more likely insufficient resources despite nation-wide efforts. Valencia rejected offers from abroad which may have helped, coordination difficulties aside. From Las Provincias
There are many volunteers at the Feria, a site normally used for expositions. It has large areas ideal for collecting and distributing donations. Large amounts go in and out, out on off road military transport vehicles that can go just about anywhere. Friends in Picanya report an abundance of goods and volunteers still. They are concerned that support will fall off too soon however. They also report that there is no school for the children. The day care center they use for their youngest is housing soldiers.
The metro is set to be fully operational as of December 6th. Green buses lent by Madrid are replacing metro service where possible in the meantime. Because the metro to the airport is not working you can go by bus or taxi. We went by taxi the other day. The driver took a route we’ve never been on before. He explained that the normal route is still closed to traffic due to flood damage. He also explained that taxi drivers were protesting recently over the local government’s decision to allow them to work seven days a week. They are normally limited to five. As a result of the loss of tourism including cruise ships there is less work for taxis now than before. The government mistakenly believes, he said, that because the metro is not working and some bus service has been disrupted that there is more demand for taxis. Now with seven day permission more taxis will be out looking for fares, resulting in them spending money just driving around.
I found this photo in an AP story. It shows the before and after satellite images of Valencia. AP story
Friends report the presence of many volunteers in their communities, including some from Madrid and Barcelona. There are many heartwarming stories of efforts to provide on site assistance, food, clothing, shelters for pets and pet food.
Oscar Puente, head of Transportation, says that lines C1 and C2 of “Cercanías” (regional trains) will be reopened before Christmas, perhaps C5 and C6 as well. Line C3,the one going south, suffered the most damage. A reopening date has not been estimated. He went on to say that the main highways should be more fully operational in the near future. Secondary and smaller roads are going to take months. On the A7 they are building a bypass for military and emergency access. The A3 to the south was closed due to a collapsed bridge, but they are paving an alternative route. The 330 should be open by now. Source La Sexta
Mazon, the President of the Generalitat (Valencia province) apologized for the much delayed warning. Some 130,000 showed up at the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) in downtown Valencia to protest. There was another protest at the Borja Palace.
On November 11, 2024, La Dirección General de Tráfico says there were more than 22 kilometers backed up. Various important roads in the effected areas are still closed to traffic: the A-7 between Quart de Poblet and Torrent, the CV-33 in Torrent, the CV-36 from Picanya to the A-7, the CV-50 in Chiva. There are 31 smaller routes that are not usable at all.
We took the bus to El Perelló, .located on the beach to the south. Just outside Valencia city we drove past huge numbers of damaged vehicles. We saw no damage to property the entire distance to El Perelló other than the expansion of the lake, called the Albufera. Some farmland is underwater on the east and northern sides. The beaches are littered with reeds. These no doubt came from the Albufera and were washed out to sea before being carried back in. We saw about a half dozen Guardia Civil on horseback looking for bodies. Access to the beach is blocked north of the Estany de la Plana in El Perelló.
Debris washed up in El Perelló.
Reports from a friend in Catarroja: One of the first things they did was to clean out the storm sewers, removing mud and debris. Heavy rains this week would have resulted in additional flooding.
The bus information screen informed us that fishing in the Albufera has been suspended until conditions return to normal. The Rambla del Poyo that funneled the flood waters empties into the Albufera, causing the conditions leading to the prohibition. Emergency workers have been combing the reeds looking for bodies carried by the Rambla del Poyo.
The screen provided recommendations to volunteers working in effected areas. Equipment: mask, gloves, rubber boots, long sleeves and trousers (no shorts), head and eye cover. They are telling people not to eat or drink while in those zones, and to not put mobile phones next to your face and ears until you have sanitized all surfaces. Where there is no running water people can not use toilets so may be forced to go outdoors. Sewer lines may be broken, spilling sewage. There may be toxic materials in the mud and standing water.
The death total has reached 212. Five children are confirmed dead in the flood. Two are missing per the latest reports. Policía Nacional y la Guardia Civil have 28 cases of missing persons as of November 12, down from 50 the day before.
No victims were found in the parking lot at the MN4 mall in Alfafar.
Debris and vehicle removal continues but there are mountains to move. The first step is to clear a path for pedestrians and vehicles by piling everything on one side, opening one lane.
Calle Calvario, Torrent
Volunteers by the thousands showing up. This is in Catarroja. Photo by Aubrey Lay.
Day care center in Picanya.
Maribel Alblat, the mayor of Paiporta, probably the most seriously effected community, called the “delegada del Gobierno” Pilar Bernabé García, charged with central government activities in the province, at 7 pm on the day of the flood. “People are dying,” she said. It took an hour before the massive alert was issued. That meant that thousands more were in their vehicles when the flood waters hit.
The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) had issued orange alerts the day before the floods for heavy rain. The president of Valencia province Carlos Arturo Mazon has been heavily criticized for the lack of timely response. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has also been criticized although it appears that the primary initial response must lie with local officials versus those in Madrid.
Mazon, the Partido Popular leader (conservative), voted against a recent proposal to introduce measures that would prevent the risk of floods along the Mediterranean coast. (Alex Dunham and Conor Faulkner – alex.dunham@thelocal.com, 5 Nov, 2024 CET. Updated: Tue 5 Nov 2024 14:30 CE).
Rambla del Poyo in Picanya. You can see the supports for the pedestrian bridge (in yellow)
Volunteer clean up in Picanya
Many people use bottled gas in their homes. Some have to wait in lines for hours for replacement bottles. Water and electricity has returned to at least parts of Catarroja according to a friend of mine with family in the area.
A Spanish Navy vessel landed Monday bringing 104 marines to assist in recovery efforts. There are over 5,000 soldiers already in the area. The ship brought trucks loaded with food, water, support materials, and two SH-60F helicopters. Daily World
Schools in about half of the effected areas are set to reopen on Monday, November 11.
Various fund raising efforts are underway. Last night we attended the tour of the Antiguo Almacen de Dientes. There were more than 50 people in attendance and many more who bought tickets but did not attend.
Source of the above information is the online version of Las Provincias unless otherwise indicated.
Some miscellaneous updates: The Metro in Valencia is not running. It will be opening line by line in the coming days. The regional trains running north are in service, but not to the south, which is where the flooding occurred. There are efforts underway to take care of cats and dogs. Pet stores are collecting donations. Some 15000 military personnel are in or on the way to effected areas. I can not tell how much heavy equipment has arrived and been put to work, though I saw a long line of farm tractors going into one of the towns . The king, prime minister and president of Valencia Comunitat (the provincial government) were pelted with mud in Paiporta yesterday. Trash service in Valencia is back on so that means they can get to the landfills and recycling centers, other than the organic waste. That container is still full.
Picnaya is divided by the Rambla del Poyo. Four of the five bridges are gone, the one remaining carries vehicles. The town of Torrent, next to Picanya, is nearly impossible to get to because of road damage and blockages. It is the second largest town in the province of Valencia.
World Central Kitchen was serving hot meals in Paiporta yesterday. The founder is a famous Spanish chef. I have donated along with a number of friends. It is a reliable charity. Please consider donating World Central Kitchen
Trucks and cars were thrown around like corks
Car and debris everywhere
Flooding happened on streets with parked cars and traffic
After the center street has been cleared
Farm tractors showing up to go to work
This shows where the Rambla del Poyo is. You can see a number of the effected communities along that gully.
At a large shopping center called Bonaire there is a 1700 car underground parking lot. It filled with water. There was much fear that many victims died in their cars. They have been pumping it out for days and finally they can get in. There are no victims, fortunately.
Elsewhere one man spent 11 hours in a tree before he was rescued. Another was taken in by a truck driver. They waited it out in the cab. One woman left work as usual at 5pm. Before long she was caught between two branches of the flood. She took a video, sent it to her brother, who told her to get out of the car or she would die. She exited the car and was underwater immediately. “”But at that moment, one of those white canisters that are in the countryside hit me in the belly, pushing me to the surface and crashing me into an orange tree. With my right foot, I leaned a little on the nozzle of the canister and gained enough momentum to stay afloat.” (Las Provincias https://www.lasprovincias.es/comunitat/pase-horas-arbol-jose-manuel-socorrio-20241105003020-nt.html )
There are many heart warming reports of rescues, in some cases by people risking their lives to help others. Sonia, Carmen, Eva, Pepa y Fran were rescued. They were in the water when a man came swimming to tell them to follow him to where they could join others in a building. The window was illuminated still and they followed him there.
There was heavy flooding in Barcelona yesterday from the same type of meteorological system, called DANA in Spanish, that caused the devastation in Valencia province on September 29. Roads and airport closed.
Flooding in Barcelona on November 4, video in English
On October 29, 2024, Paiporta and Picanya, both in the province of Valencia and on the south edge of the city of Valencia, and 13 other communities on the west and south side of Valencia were heavily damaged by a raging flood causing over 200 deaths and counting. Bodies are still being pulled from the wreckage. This came about as a result of 19″ inches of rain in the hills to the north and west of the city of Valencia, which itself got little rain in addition to a fair amount of wind. This deluge is the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain in a few hours.
This type of storm is called a DANA, Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos, a High Altitude Isolated Depression The jet stream drops further south than normal, bringing cold air that then collided with the warm moist air over the Med. Once this mass of very moist air hit the hills the temperature dropped. The result was some 19″ of rain that was funneled into a large gully called the Rambla del Poyo, which is normally dry. It is not deep and wide enough for this much water all at once. A raging wall of water overflowed the banks.
Wreckage like this can be found in the effected villages.
This disaster one is worse than that of 1957, when 100 died when the central part of the city was flooded by the Turia River. They are still rescuing people trapped in buildings. They found one person alive in their car after three days. Most houses do not have running water nor electricity, while some still have mobile phone service so we are hearing from them. Volunteers and government workers are bringing water, food and supplies. Over 10,000 volunteers were organized and bussed in today, November 2nd.
A residence for seniors/disabled inundated
One tornado touched town
Provincial authorities are coming under some fire for failing to warn people in time. Alerts were sent out via mobile, but people in the effected villages are saying either that they never received one or that it came within minutes of when the flood waters slammed into their houses and cars. I received a warning at 9:30 pm long after the disaster occurred. If you were not following the news you would have had no idea there was a problem.
There were thousands on the roads and highways when the flood waters prevented further progress. Some of them died, most of them have lost their vehicles to the damages inflicted by water, mud and collisions with other vehicles, houses, trees and the like.
