Irish residents in the Valencia region of Spain find themselves in a daze after the country’s deadliest floods in several decades, causing a lady from Dublin to evacuate her waterlogged property on Tuesday.
With the ongoing search and rescue attempts and a death toll that has surpassed 155, Dermot Hurley, the president of the Valencia Irish Cultural Association, stated that the expat community is in a state of “shock”.
“We’re grateful that none of our members have perished,” he added, despite many of them being uncontactable due to inconsistent phone and internet signals in certain regions.
Mr Hurley criticised the responses of local authorities, stating that although a red alert was put out by weather services at 11am on Tuesday, a stay-at-home warning was not sent out until 8pm.
Spanish Floods: Unprecedented heavy rainfall in Valencia in such a short time.
Spain: More than 155 people have lost their lives in flash floods while the search for victims continues.
Images of the Spanish Flood: Damaged vehicles, flooded streets and houses filled with mud.
Trish Sweeney was one of those who had to evacuate her house with her partner on Tuesday, and said that they were completely unprepared. “It was absolutely unparalleled,” she confessed.
The 66-year-old woman, who relocated to the Valencia region eight years ago with her partner Erika from Dublin, currently stays in a secluded spot around a 40-minute drive from the urban centre.
After a leak developed in her roof on Tuesday evening, water around their house started to increase, leading to every room in their house getting flooded.
The couple quickly gathered their important belongings and left their house, wading through water to get to their car in order to find a more secure area on higher ground.
Recognising the severity of the situation, Trish said, “The sheer volume of water was simply terrifying.”
“We weren’t aware that people had died,” she expressed, explaining that they were without any signal or internet. “But we instinctively moved to higher ground.”
Upon returning to their dwelling on Wednesday, a twosome found the property minimally damaged with the exception of wet interiors and a broken antenna. The duo confessed they only realised the severity of the situation the following day, with the wife noting a familiar person from Paiporta had been literally swept away alongside his wife after abandoning their car. Luckily, the pair was able to cling onto a residential door and they were saved by the occupant of the house.
Concurrently, the inhabitants of Valencia see themselves as fortunate compared to their neighbouring areas which were severely hit. An alert was declared that advised locals to refrain from utilising the main routes, in order to allow access to emergency vehicles dealing with the aftereffects of the calamity. The proclamation came from Noel Costello on a Thursday afternoon.
Mr. Costello, a native of Dublin, highlighted the monumental ongoing rescue efforts, especially in places nearby where lives were lost. He stated that the entire population was in recession, with local newspapers witnessing a surge in sales leaving the shelves empty.
Valencia’s metro, light rail system and certain railway connections still remain dysfunctional while the basic necessities like water and bread are mostly unavailable in the grocery stores, with some implementing water rationing.
The septuagenarian, who has spent the past 26 years frequenting Valencia, remembered a warning on Tuesday night while at dinner, initially taking it for a fire alarm when all phones buzzed together. He referred to the following downpour as “colossal”, and praised the rerouting of the Turia river after the fatal flood of 1957, stating it protected the city.
Meanwhile, President Michael D Higgins has expressed his heartfelt sympathy, stating that those affected by the appalling inundation and the individuals working tirelessly to support them will remain in their minds in the following days.