María Isabel Albalat, mayor of Paiportaepicenter of tragedy; spoke with laSexta about the situation in his municipality and updated the number of deaths due to the effects of DANA, which It now stands at 70. It is not excluded that this figure will increase in the coming hours.
The mayor, who could not hold back her tears, promised in front of the microphones of LaSexta that she would do everything possible to return the city to what it was before. “It’s not Paiporta, it’s desolation”he declared. “I’m sure we will move forward, but I don’t know how or when. We won’t stop until we can resolve it or until Paiporta returns to what it always was,” she indicated.
Paiporta has changed dramatically since last Tuesday, October 29, when the storm mercilessly hit the municipality, taking with it lives and properties. It is one of the disaster epicentersone of those that DANA suffered the most and where dozens of deaths were noted in the urban area and six in a retirement home, located on the outskirts of the city.
According to the mayor, many people have died stuck in their cars since “Paiporta is generally not flooded“;so people”I had no fear“Here, when it rains, people usually go down to the garages to take their cars out in case of flooding,” he explained in previous statements. “That’s where we think they were stuck,” he said.
Concerning the dead found at the retirement home, He said “they were having dinner and were in the dining room” with staff and could not escape because They had reduced mobility. Likewise, he highlighted that they have enabled “a school with electricity for those who need shelter.” “I know the solidarity between us,” he added.
Among the deceased, “there are minors, young people, elderly people, families, there is everything”, lamented Albalat in another interview with EFE. “It seems that a good number of the deceased were trying to move the cars“He indicated. In addition, water entered many ground floors where very elderly people lived.
The municipality of Paiporta, stressed the mayor, is not prepared for the rain because so far it has not suffered floods and, therefore, there are many constructions of ground floor accommodation.
Paiporta is a town in the Valencia metropolitan area located just ten kilometers southwest of the capital, with a population of just over 25,000 inhabitants.
