The waters of several ravines converge towards Albufera. That’s why he’s been concentrating for days searching there for other missing people and the Civil Guard continues this Saturday to travel its waters in rubber boats while, at the same time, fishermen and farmers in the area still cannot resume their activities due to the mud that remains in the area.
One of them is José Vicente, a fisherman in El Palmar, who explains how DANA suspended the work of Albufera fishermen: “The disaster emptied the fish markets. We haven’t been able to go to work these days. A normal day usually yields around 500 kg of fish. »
Of course, they know what the priority is at the moment: “Now the most important thing is to solve people’s lives. » In fact, many fishermen collaborate in the search for bodies: “It is the fishermen who know the lake inch by inch”.
Additionally, the El Palmar fish market donated much of what they caught before the disaster, around 1,000 kilos of fish. And since DANA, they can no longer go fishing. Not only because of the rescue efforts, but also because it is still unclear whether the condition of the water and fish is optimal..
They are optimistic: “The color of the water is the same. It’s water with mud, but the water is practically the same, we don’t think anything abnormal can come out.” Because if this is not the case and fishing is not reactivated soon, they believe that it is really difficult for the sector to be able to resist for much longer…
Valencian farmers are in a worse situation. After DANA passed, the persimmon, citrus and vegetable fields were completely destroyed. The combined agricultural insurance entity Agroseguro brings the hectares of crops concerned to 25,000 which harmed up to 10,000 farmers.
Only a third of the plantations have been assessed, but the vast majority still exist due to their difficult access. Eva García, an agronomist expert, indicates that the main problem has been the “flooding” of the fields.
