Malaga village storm victim: 'It was horrible, the water came up almost two metres... We are throwing out whole pallets of products'

The 'Dana' left Malaga province on Thursday via the Serrania de Ronda. When other districts were beginning to return to normal, it was the turn of the Ronda area to be hit by the low pressure storm.

Damage has been reported in practically all the villages in the district, but the storm has hit Jimera de Líbar particularly hard. There, a flood turned a street into a river and the strong current flowed right through a local meat company, Cárnicas Medina Domínguez, which has been in business for more than 50 years and is run by three siblings.

Mayte Domínguez, one of the owners, spoke of "ruin". "In a matter of minutes the water came in; we opened up downstairs to let it run out and we left," she explained. There were moments of panic as her father was inside. "I couldn't see him," she said. He took refuge from the deluge and was not injured. In fact no flood-related injuries have been reported in the rest of the district or the province.

"We are having to throw away whole pallets of products, such as salted ribs, Iberian bacon, salt... I saw what happened in Valencia and it seemed incredible to me, and here the same thing has happened; I was clearing out mud and I remembered the people of Valencia," she said, visibly distressed. "This morning I arrived and the mud was there again," she said, speaking on Friday. "It was horrible, the water reached almost two metres," she added.

Medina and her siblings have not had time to quantify the damage and stressed that the company was at full capacity due to the proximity of Christmas. "Hams have been damaged, but only a few," the business owner stressed, while pointing out that her company also sells in other provinces. She also said damage had been caused to machinery and vehicles.

Her brother Bartolomé Medina has suffered doubly, as the water also flooded the basement of his house. "We have quite a lot of damage," he said.

In the village, in general, cleaning work is going on at a frenetic pace to try to get things back to normal. Firefighters from the provincial brigade in Malaga are helping.

In Estación de Jimera, where there had been concern prior to the flooding about the rising level of the Guadiaro river, it was the overflowing of streams that caused flooding in homes.

"The flood came through the upper part of the village, turning a street into a river; water came out where we have never seen before," said the mayor, Francisco Javier Lobo, who stressed how local residents had all helped out. "Jimera is like a family, a lot of people came to help, last night there were more than 40 people," said Domínguez.