Caravans of hearses on their way to the morgue, deserted streets, classes without children, closed shops and queues in supermarkets to stock up on mineral water while a helicopter flies over the city. The image of Valencia this Wednesday resembled that of the worst moments of the covid pandemic.
In the aftermath of the most devastating cold snap of the 21st century and one of the greatest disasters in the province’s history, silence and tears reigned in the capital of Turia.
Unlike the 1957 flood, the city was not directly affected by the effects of the dana. Indeed, on Tuesday it hardly rained and yesterday the sun finally imposed itself on the thick fog with which it threatened a day which this year plunges into the scar of a wounded earth. The year 2024 will be remembered as one of the most fateful. First of all, with the fire in the Campanar district which left ten dead and in which 138 families lost their homes. Yesterday, the image of Valence has once again made a world tour marked by tragedy. From fire to water in just over eight months but with the same common denominator: the most absolute desolation.
The day was distressing. That of the countless cases of despair of those who saw how the passage of hours did not bring them news of their missing loved ones. From Paiporta to Utiel, passing through Torrent, Chiva, Alfafar or Benetússerwho suffered the most and the least, knew of a few cases of Valencians who showed no signs of life. All had been lost in the towns hardest hit by the rain.
From renowned businessmen to civil guards, teachers, transporters, elderly people living alone or in residence and young families with babies. After these stories from people affected by the terrible floods, their loved ones were waiting for news.
As the death toll rose in every official part of the authorities, the uncertainty of those who knew nothing about their loved ones grew alongside it. A nightmare made worse by the problems with electricity and telephone supplies which have left thousands of people incommunicado in the province of Valencia since Tuesday evening, when the storm swept everything away.
For those who benefited from coverage, an alert from Civil Protection warned them around seven a.m. on their cell phones that the worst was not over and they were asked not to travel in the province due to of the risk of flooding.
The helplessness was even more aggravated in a city isolated by land, sea and air for long hours. The same in which the port closed due to the storm and traffic became impossible on the main highways that connect with Madrid, Barcelona or Alicante. The trains weren’t running either. Neither AVE trains nor Cercanías trains. And the metro and tram stopped working.
As happened during the pandemic, hoaxes spread via social networks or mobile messaging applications added to the desolation caused by the unbearable flood of deaths.
From the one who warned of new overflows to the one who affirmed that the supply of running water was going to be cut in Valence. The immediate effect spread to supermarkets, to the point where businesses in the sector called for calm in the face of early attempts to unnecessarily stockpile supplies.
Towards the city of Turia This time it was saved by the new canal built after the disaster of October 1957. A usually dry infrastructure on the way to the mouth of the Mediterranean which yesterday was flowing full of water through the municipality.
This image became a reflection of the devastation that the cold drop had left upstream, translated into truncated lives which made their last journey into the City of Justice.
There, in the basement of a parking lot, the morgue was installed. Last point for those who went down in history as the mortal victims of a tragedy that will remain indelible in the memory of the province of Valencia.
