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M. J. Carchano
Valencia
Friday, 8 November 2024, 11:49
Since last Tuesday, when the 'Dana' storm devastated parts of the province of Valencia, the question of evacuating the population of the most affected municipalities had not yet been put on the table. At least they had not done so officially, because in unofficial circles, as the hours went by, the idea has been gaining momentum. Firstly, upon seeing how most of the residents, as well as the security forces, were dumping the mud they cleaned into the drains. Experts warned about this practice, which was repeated in every house, in every street, and even the local councils tried to prevent a practice that could be detrimental to the sewage system.
Sources from Egevasa, the Valencia provincial authority's water company which is handling the issues of water supply and waste water treatment in some of the affected towns, confirmed that the solidification of the sludge had significantly reduced the drainage capacity. However, the mud continued to flow until it generated a gigantic sludge that has caused the town of Paiporta to become a huge swamp, with all the health problems that this entails for the population.
Earlier yesterday, the health minister, Mónica García, said that "for now", there had been no consideration of evacuating the population due to the health risk." "We hope that the situation will improve as the waste is cleared," she said in an interview on RNE. García wanted to make it clear that the ministry was in contact with the water companies and with the ministry of ecological transition to see when and how the problems of treatment plants and waste removal would be resolved. A similar message came from the national Ministry of Health 24 hours earlier. "Not to date", it said, referring to the fact that the possibility of evacuating the population had not been on the table. These statements, for now, speak in the present tense, although it does not anticipate what might happen in the coming days.
The blockage in Paiporta's sewage system has forced an alert to be issued to ask all available waste disposal trucks around Spain to travel to Valencia to remove this residual blockage, which is already affecting some ground floors of Paiporta's buildings, where the sludge, mixed with sewage, is overflowing from the toilets.
José María Martín, PhD in epidemiology and public health from Harvard University and professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Valencia, warned that, nine days after the flooding, the risks of outbreaks are "real and could worsen". For this reason, he stressed, epidemiological surveillance, access to basic services and health education are "essential" to "protect the population and prevent a major health crisis".
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