The spokesperson for Voice at Valencia Town Hall Juan Manuel Badenas and the advisor of this same training Cecilia Herrero experienced the devastating effects of DANA walk on mud neighborhoods in the south of Valencia. There, they collaborated with neighbors and directed the action of their communities: “The neighborhoods of Castellar, Horno de Alcedo and La Torre were hit hard by the disaster», explains Juan Manuel Badenas. In one of them, in La Torre, the neighbors they spoke with recognized their work: “They told us we were the only ones who got there at that time.“.
Juan Manuel Badenas himself explains that “the entire government team at Valencia City Hall provided a professional, united and supportive response” to DANA “which strengthened the government pact between PP and Vox“.
Remember Juan Manuel Badenas who already warned of the seriousness of the situation during his presence in Cecopi on October 29, the day of the disaster. And on Wednesday the 30th, at 8 a.m., he wanted to be in person with the victims. It was on this day that, thanks to a farmer, he was able to visit Castellar and see first-hand the level of the flood, as well as the devastation that this area of the city of Valencia had suffered.
It is for this reason that, immediately, “I summoned the three other advisors of Vox, but Mónica Gil could not travel, because she had remained incommunicado in Torrent”. The two other advisors arrived immediately: Cecilia Herrero and José Gosalbez. At 3 p.m. on October 30, the three were back in Castellar.
There, the three Vox advisors were present with concerned neighbors, like Pepita and Alejandro, a couple over 83 years old: “They told us that They had spent the night collecting water and trying in vain to keep the water from getting under his door. “They had to take refuge on the top floor of their house.”
Cecilia Herrero and Juan Manuel Badenas himself comforted them. And they also helped them record videos and take photos of the house so they could present it to the insurance as quickly as possible. Because DANA had left the house without electricity.
Only 24 hours later, on October 31, the three Vox advisors went to the center of La Petxinathat the Town Hall had authorized to house people affected by DANA in the neighborhoods of Valence.
And from there they returned to Castellar to bring the neighbors what they had asked for. “We went to Nicole and her sister, who has a three-month-old baby. Both are part of a group of workers of foreign origin who went to Valencia for the khaki campaign. Tuesday night they had lost everything“: the mattresses and the few things they had,” explains Juan Manuel Badenas.
Thus, Juan Manuel Badenas himself, Cecilia Herrero and José Gosálbez coordinated with an association of volunteers to provide food and water to these people. Then they returned to La Petxina, where they were able to get mattresses, blankets, duvets and clothes. Nicole and her three-month-old baby could sleep the same night. But also for the immigrant workers who accompanied Nicole and her baby.
On November 1, Juan Manuel Badenas and Cecilia Herrero visited La Torre: “You are the only ones who have made it here,” the neighbors told them. The same day, Juan Manuel Badenas told his government partners, María José Catalá’s PP and his own party, Vox, that the situation in La Torre required the attention of the army, which was “a war scene » and that municipal resources would not be enough.
Badenas coordinated the dispatch of a truck and two vans for November 2: he had to bring food, personal hygiene products and water to The Tower, Horno de Alcedo and Castellar. Additionally, in La Torre they distributed food that day. And on November 4 and the following days, they also came to promote the sending of heavy machinery.
In addition, once the actions were channeled to Valencia, they also provided assistance to neighboring municipalities, such as Catarroja, Paiporta and Picañawhere they removed mud and transported machines.
