Army of volunteers joins thousands of military personnel and emergency services working at site of 'Dana' disaster in Valencia

José A. González

Valencia

Saturday, 2 November 2024, 10:01 | Updated 13:11h.

Exhausted, covered in mud and with their shovels on their backs, they crossed last night the renamed solidarity bridge that connects Valencia city with the rest of the municipalities of La Huerta Sur. Today, at 7.37am, the first coach organised by the Generalitat Valenciana regional government to transport the volunteers in an organised manner was set in motion.

Zoom

The starting point, in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, is located in the vicinity of the Príncipe Felipe Museum. The bus that made its way to Chiva, one of the municipalities hardest hit by the effects of the 'Dana' storm, was carrying 65 members of the public loaded up with all kinds of tools to help in the clean-up work after the tragic floods.

The University of Valencia also made an appeal and dozens of university students have come forward to help in whatever way is necessary. The initial forecast is that around 50 buses will be sent to the affected areas in various regions of Valencia.

Related news

Tragedy

Tragedy in Valencia: Devastating 'Dana' leaves more than 200 dead in its wake in Spain

Tragedy

Last words of young mother with three-month-old baby in her arms who both died in Valencia floods: 'Please take care of my other children'

Tragedy

Spain's emergency military unit mobilises 24 specially trained dogs in search for 'dozens' of missing persons in Valencia

The fourth day of cleaning and search begins, the fifth day of anguish for many families who cannot find their loved ones and another day of sadness for the relatives of the confirmed 207 victims to date whose lives have been taken by the Dana.

The latest official death toll, released on Friday, counted at least 204 deaths in the province of Valencia, one in Albacete and two more in Cuenca and Malaga, respectively. But the latest death toll, which will be updated again this Saturday, was given by the head of the Interior Ministry, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, near the end of Friday after having been hours earlier at the Integrated operational coordination centre (CECOPI) in Valencia. "The update I have is 207 victims".

Zoom

The search for the missing people continues with vigour and with more reinforcements. The first battalions of Spain's emergency military unit (UME) arrived even when the water occupied a large part of the metropolitan area of the Valencian city. Now they have been joined by units of the Royal Guard, 500 uniformed personnel and another 500 on their way. "We will be there with the 120,000 men of the army if necessary," said Defence Minister Margarita Robles yesterday. More than two thousand military, some 1,100 members of the National Police, as well as the same number of Guardia Civil officers and hundreds of firefighters and Civil Protection teams. In total, including the members of the security forces, 4,530 people are working on the ground.

It is a deployment that mingles with another army, but this one is not uniformed but equipped with brooms and shovels, all enlisted in the solidarity battalion. Everyone knows someone affected: a missing person, a survivor or a deceased person. As soon as the first rays of sunshine illuminated La Huerta de Valencia, the parade began towards Paiporta, Pincanya, Riba-roja, Torrent, Xirivella, Alfafar, Benetússer or Aldaia.

Many of them are young people who organise themselves through Telegram groups, who sign up for the column closest to their home. There they receive all the information: starting point, recommendations and kilometres to walk. From now on, all the organisation is in the hands of the Generalitat. A "wave of solidarity" that needs "coordination", said Mazón in an institutional message. "We are doing this to better organise, transport and segment the aid of those who are lending their solidarity".

Hours earlier, Mazón had asked members of the public who are travelling to the affected areas to help to return to their homes because they could "collapse roads that need the troops". In order to avoid further congestion on the authorised accesses, the government of the Valencia region has restricted, from the early hours of last night until 11.59pm on Sunday, travel to the most affected areas except for assistance to health services, the fulfilment of work activities, the return to the usual place of family residence, assistance to minors, dependents and vulnerable people, urgent actions in judicial or notarial bodies, and any other duly accredited action.

Despite the historic deployment of miliary troops, many of the Valencians feel abandoned. "Tell the army to come here»; «they should at least take the cars away from the door so we can get out"; «they have forgotten us», they keep repeating on the television. As the days go by, nerves, anger and the feeling of being forgotten increase in the hardest hit areas, which still lack essential services such as electricity, water and communications.

Among those affected, there is a feeling of tiredness and a certain desperation due to the delay in the distribution of aid. Those affected are still urgently asking for food and water. Children, the elderly and the sick are the most vulnerable and are surviving thanks to the solidarity of the citizens of the whole province, who have accumulated food, clothes and blankets at the collection points, but now the problem is to distribute it.

For its part, the Generalitat Valenciana has set up a solidarity bank account to receive donations from individuals, companies and organisations. The account is: ES94 0081 0693 61 0002423445. The Valencian president also explained that private donations are being channelled through a website (somsolidaritat.gva.es ) and five WhatsApp numbers.

In the face of this wave of solidarity, security forces have arrested at least 86 people since Wednesday for looting commercial establishments in the region, according to the Ministry of the Interior.