It is an emergency that has awakened the solidarity of an entire country.
Thousands of volunteers They were traveling on foot this Friday towards the towns near the city of Valencia, in Spain, which were hit this week by DANAa natural phenomenon that caused deadly floods and destruction.
Many of them came “armed” with buckets, brooms, picks, shovels, bottles of water and food with the intention of helping in the cleaning tasks and supporting the thousands of victims of the worst natural disaster in the recent history of the European country.
So far, according to the Spanish government, DANA has caused more than 200 deathsa figure that can increase while rescue efforts continue. There are still hundreds of people missing.
Three days after the torrential rains, in some municipalities such as Paiporta, Alfafar, Massanassa, Catarroja, La Torre and Benetusser, in addition to living among the rubble and mud, residents have difficulty obtaining supplies.
The infrastructure in these places was destroyed, including several roads that remain closed, making it difficult to reach them by vehicle.
That is why they have been formed “bridges of solidarity”in reference to two bridges that the volunteers have had to cross, some of them after walking several kilometers, to get from the Valencian neighborhood of San Marcelino to La Torre, one of the most affected towns in the municipality of Valencia, and from where they intend to reach the rest of the towns hit by the floods.
Due to the large influx of volunteers, groups of people have had to “organize” the traffic of the pedestrian walkway that crosses the new channel of the Turia River, an infrastructure work that diverted the floods from the DANA and protected the rest from their impacts. from the city of Valencia.
They criticize the response
“I have been motivated by the disaster, because every hand is too little,” Reme Montero, a 59-year-old woman, told the Reuters news agency.
Among the volunteers there are people of all ages and even entire families. But a huge presence of young people stands out.
“To Paiporta to help,” a group of young people responded to Reuters as they crossed the bridge and headed to the town considered ground “zero” of the disaster. “Wherever necessary,” added one of them.
In Paiporta more than 62 people died due to the floods.
This same Friday, the regional government of Valencia thanked the volunteers, but He asked them to stay away from the hardest hit areasbecause the crowds can interrupt access of emergency services.
“People are mobilizing because they don’t see the military,” Aurora Iglesias, one of the volunteers who called on other citizens through social networks, told the BBC World Service.
“I knew we would have enormous support from the community and that a lot of people would come to help,” he added.
The authorities reported that about 500 soldiers Additional people would be transferred this Friday holiday to the emergency area. They will join another 1,200 troops who are involved in rescue efforts and helping the population.
Some 75,000 homes remained without electricity this Friday and firefighters diverted gasoline from cars abandoned in the floods to power generators.
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