Malaga floods: ground zero residents try to recover four weeks after storm Leonardo
Residents of the village of El Secadero say they have never seen such floods, although they are used to rising river levels
Residents of the village of El Secadero, which storm Leonardo turned into 'ground zero' of the floods in Malaga province, are slowly trying to recover what they lost in the rain.
Although they know well what it means when a river overflows, the 1,500 residents say they have never seen a flood like what happened on 4 February. The flow of the Guadiaro river coming down from the Serranía de Ronda was so strong that the Military Emergency Unit could only reach the village by diving.
The storm caused electricity cuts and the loss of mobile phone coverage. Local businesses lost produce and machinery, while residents will need time to recover from the loss of furniture and devices.
The Viveros Martín garden centre is just one example of the damages that storm Leonardo caused. Luciano, who works for the company, showed SUR an accumulation of mud that had reached two metres - this is how much the river had grown.
Vivero Martín lost a total of 60,000 plants ready to sell, machinery and electrical installations. This will cost the business between 30,000 and 40,000 euros.
The company has two greenhouses. Nothing is left from one of them, while the other is partially standing. They have started to recover some plants, but they are not ready to sell yet.
"The boss brought in 40 or 50 people to collect everything so that we workers could start planting again. Those were our spring flowers that we were going to sell now. It's a disaster," Luciano said.
Domestic damage
If the river rose more than two metres at Viveros Martín, the houses just a few metres downstream were able to avoid the water, because it all depends on the course of the river and the level of the slope in this area where the Guadiaro flows towards the Mediterranean.
A few hundred metres further down there is a row of houses, situated closer to the Guadiaro. The first three flooded, while in the next three the river stayed on the landing.
Ivonne and her family are among the residents whose homes the river visited. Although they spent four days away from home, they came back to a floating (yet still working) fridge and the loss of furniture.
"My mother-in-law's sewing machine, a desk and the bathroom and kitchen furniture, which are the most expensive things," Ivonne said. She has also lost a computer to humidity, although the water had not reached it.
Her family will be recovering the furniture "little by little". "You can't do everything all at once," she said.
Ivonne's fridge floated away but is still working, but she could not save all of her belongings
Many people have helped Ivonne put things in their place and clean the house. Unfortunately, the broken computer had the digital certificate she needs to apply for the government aid (150 euros for each day of evacuation).
Even if she manages to apply for it, it will hardly be enough to replace the kitchen or bathroom furniture and the desk. Nothing will bring back the sewing machine that storm Leonardo and the Guadiaro river claimed as theirs.
