The number of dead left by DANA continues to increase and there are already 202 dead as Cecopi (the Emergency Coordination Center) confirms: “The process of investigation and identification of victims continues. The numbers are frightening and continue to rise every day, with hundreds of people still missing. The National Meteorological Agency warned this Friday that the alert continues because the unfavorable situation has not yet subsided and precipitation is expected to continue throughout the weekend.
The dead bodies that are being recovered in the areas most affected by the storm (Paiporta, Picanya, Chiva, Utiel, Catarroja, Alfafar, Sedaví…) They arrive little by little at the Feria València after the Institute of Legal Medicine of the City of Justice of the Valencian capital was overwhelmed by the constant arrival of dead people. In this facility, an autopsy area and another storage area for the bodies have been set up until they can be identified and released to the families, as confirmed by the Minister of Justice and Security. Interior, Salomé Pradas.
The consequences of this tragedy already exceed other historical natural disasters such as the Tous “swamp” of 1982, caused by the failure of the dam on the bed of the Júcar river; the overflow of the Túria river as it passed through Valencia in 1957, which caused the death of 81 people; or the flooding of the Las Nieves de Biescas campsite, which left 87 dead in 1996.
Crowd of people working
Thousands of people, including firefighters, members of the state security forces, members of the Civil Protection, soldiers from the UME and the Army (Land, Air and Defense units). Marine) or volunteers who travel on foot or by bike to the most affected areas to work and lend a hand in any way possible (bringing water, food, clothing, removing mud, clean up debris, search for survivors, bodies, etc.). Precisely, in some areas that are easier to access, such as the Torre district, in the city of Valencia, access has been cut off due to an excess of volunteers. On the military side, this Friday, 500 soldiers participated in relief operations, adding to the 1,200 already present in the affected areas.
The situation in the affected areas is really complicated, with a lack of supplies for the affected inhabitants: no running water, no drinking water, no possibility of accessing food and, in some towns, still no food. ‘electricity. This situation has led some people to have to go to supermarkets affected by DANA to stock up on basic products, such as water. It is for this reason that many municipalities have started distributing water in the streets and door-to-door, while asking citizens to consume responsibly and not to store.
39 roads closed
This Friday, 126 roads remain affected in the Valencian Community due to the storm, and of these 39 remain closed to traffic, as reported by Emergencies. Some of the roads closed in the province of Valencia are the A-7 in different sections such as in Sagunto, in the industrial area of L’Oliveral-Mas del Judge and the AP7 in Carrasca; the N-322 to Pontón-Requena; at the intersection with the AP7 and at Masia del Raco-Cullera. The N-330 to El Terrazo-La Rinconeda (Utiel) is also closed; the N-III to San Juan-Requena and Siete Aguas-Buñol or the V-31 between Silla and Forn d’Alcedo. For its part, the CV-50 which passes through the Teulada ravine, in Vilamarxant, has been opened to traffic.
The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, highlighted that on public roads in the province of Valencia alone, 80 kilometers are affected and highlighted that 25 million have already been empowered in 24 hours to begin the reconstruction of the roads . . Seriously damaged by DANA on the A-7, the N-330 and the N-322.
Emergency response controversy
On Thursday, when the tragedy occurred, the Generalitat Valenciana was slow to act and only sent the general alarm to the cell phones of residents of the province of Valencia at 8:12 p.m., while the Poyo ravine and the river Túria had already overflowed and hundreds of people were trapped by the water. President Carlos Mazón defended the actions of the Consell and insisted that at all times the protocols and instructions of the National Meteorological Agency were followed – the head of Climatology of the National Meteorological Agency of Valencia said said this tragedy requires examining what happened. false, because people died “in areas where it did not rain” -.
Mazón, who assumed “exclusive command” of the emergency on Tuesday afternoon, tried to blame the Executive and Aemet, a theory also defended by the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The Interior, for its part, denied Mazón and Feijóo and recalled that territorial Civil Protection plans are a regional competence.
