Some of the oldest people in the city of Valencia look on with a strange mix of worry and relief as the new canal of the Turia river. They remember the great flood of October 1957 which claimed the lives of more than 300 people. See this evening the new Turia canal, almost reaching its capacity limitjust breathes in the face of a certainty: if the old riverbed had not been diverted during its passage through the capital, the tragedy would have repeated itself.
The images that some Valencians download They couldn’t be more eloquent. Even on certain points, it went slightly overboard. In fact, the Turia River, as it crosses La Picaña, 15 minutes from Valencia by the C-36, has caused a bridge to collapse, leaving an impressive image.
Let’s see when you see the Turia river like this, along the new canal, parallel to the V-30… pic.twitter.com/3xQNT3hGHZ
– Guadalupe Viejo Escribano (@Guada_VET) October 29, 2024
The new bed of the Turia river, at 100% capacity, overflowed in some places… To think that I passed by there and went up the Picanya bridge because I saw all the traffic stopped. .. how scary. pic.twitter.com/gLpT4Uvc94
– Adrian (@adrian14vlc) October 29, 2024
The consequences of the floods of 1957 were devastating. It is estimated that there was between 300 and 400 deads and more than 1,700 people were left homeless. It was a tragedy that determined the future of Valencian design.
The first area affected was the neighborhood of bellbut other areas like maritime towns. Today you can still see traces of the water height in many parts of the city, which varied from 40 centimeters on Avenida del Reino, to more than 3 meters in Parterre Park in the center and up to more than 5 meters away. Rue Docteur Oloriz.
The consequences of the flood were very serious, because apart from a few days of isolation there was practically no help in many areas of the city. After the flood, a sea of mud, mud and dead animals flooded the city and it took time for it to return to a normal state.
Following the flood, the Franco’s government and local authorities began to propose solutions. Ultimately, what we call South Planwhich diverted the river bed towards the south of Valencia, giving it a capacity to 5,000 cubic meters of watercompared to 3,700 cubic meters produced by the 1957 flood, let’s hope that the city remains like this and that the waters do not return to normal.
But other areas of the province and the Valencian Community have not suffered the same fate. Unfortunately, the Dana caused a number of deaths that cannot be specified, as authorities have not done so at the time of writing. We know that the first death occurred in Massanassa. It’s a man stuck in a flooded garage.
The man was stuck in the elevator on his way to the same garage. The Civil Guard, however, continues the search for the truck driver who disappeared in another Valencian town, in this case La Alcudia, in the middle of a storm. This man does not answer calls and has not contacted his family, friends or acquaintances.
The situation in the province of Valencia is very serious, with many people stuck waiting for emergency services to access the areas where they are.
