Survivor of deadly floods in Spain: ‘I know at least 30 people who could have died’ | Climate

Residents of Sedaví and Alfafar, two towns south of the Spanish city of Valencia, were hit by the worst effects of the floods and did not experience a single drop of rain. Alfafar – with almost 21,000 inhabitants – was the first municipality affected by the flooding of the Poyo Gorge, which collapsed on Monday evening as a result of heavy rainfall. Sedaví, with a population of approximately 10,000, was also affected. The cities are separated only by a narrow street.

There was a tense calm in both cities until 7 p.m. “We felt calm because the wind was just blowing and there was no sign of rain,” recalls Alfonso De Juan, 18, who grew up in the area. However, an hour later, residents began receiving notifications on their phones. “Some friends from Massanassa told me to go inside the house because the river was getting closer,” De Juan adds. In less than 30 minutes, the cities were flooded with an avalanche of muddy water from the gorge.

“I was coming home from work at 8:30 p.m. and I barely had time to close the door,” says 45-year-old resident Jeovany Moreto. He witnessed water flooding the street, sweeping away parked cars and smashing them into garages and commercial properties.

Moreto locked himself and his son in the garage, but when the water level quickly rose to waist height, they had to call for help from a second-story neighbor, who moved them to safety on the deck. This harrowing experience was a common story for many residents who said they had to spend the night in strangers’ homes because they could not return to their own.

Flooding inundated the streets of both cities until around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, disrupting electricity and drinking water supplies. It was seven hours of pure chaos. Many residents were trapped in their vehicles or at commercial establishments. De Juan watched as several residents dropped ropes from their balconies to rescue those who managed to climb into their cars or cling to lampposts to avoid being carried away by the current. “I know at least 30 people who were close to death last night,” he says.

This was the case of Juan P., who prefers not to reveal his surname. He told how he went to the rescue of a relative armed only with a broom. “At one point, while walking, I fell into an uncovered sewer; If I hadn’t held out my arms to catch myself, I wouldn’t be here to tell this story,” he says calmly.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. An 18-year-old resident of Alfafar died after trying to leave her cosmetics company. The force of the water did not allow her to escape and seek help. Locals found her on the property when the water level dropped. In Alfafar alone, the flood is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least three people. In total, at least 140 people died across Spain as a result of the storm, and hundreds are still missing, including children and even a several-month-old baby.

By morning, the main avenues of both cities were littered with piles of cars, even three stacked on top of each other. Meanwhile, hundreds of residents used brooms to clear muddy water from the landings. Others climbed piles of scrap metal, trying to reach doors or businesses. De Juan managed to sneak into Alfafar School, where signs on the wall showed the height of the flood.

Virtually no land-based plant was spared by the force of the flood. Sedaví’s town hall lost its front walls and the local library collapsed. Hundreds of books were strewn across the city’s central square, where a large puddle completely covered the entrance to the underground parking lot. Bank offices, housing developers, bars and even the supermarket on Alfafar’s main street stopped working. Residents came out of the latter with carts full of products. “It’s people who save what would otherwise be useless,” explains De Juan. Similar scenes were reported in Paiporta, La Torre and Horno de Alcedo, which also border Valencia to the south.

The city’s Ikea, located at one end of Alfafar, became a temporary shelter, accessible only to residents of affected cities with the consent of the Spanish Civil Guard. The services transported displaced people from the area to the facility, which still has power thanks to a generator. Moreto was traveling through the area to locate one of his work vehicles, a van he purchased six months ago. He found it a few blocks from his house “without any visible damage,” but prefers not to run it “until the internal circuits are dry.”

This cautious approach is shared by many neighbors who haven’t slept a wink all night. “It will take us months to recover,” says Moreto, an Ecuadorian resident who was told nothing like this had happened since 1957, when Valencia experienced historic flooding.

“Some have lost everything, especially those who lived on the first floor or ran their businesses on the ground floor,” adds De Juan, who is standing with friends on Alfafar’s main street, in front of a supermarket where residents keep coming out carrying boxes of cereals or bags of coffee.

“See this? This is the barbershop where I cut my hair,” he points out, pointing to a nearby shop. The store’s front window is shattered, the counter is damaged by water, and several chairs are overturned. Outside, a group of residents stopped to rest. A supermarket siren is wailing in the background. It seems that most people have become accustomed to the noise.

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