A normal afternoon Létur (Albacete) became hell this way only three minutes. “I can’t even say that it rained a lot, just a little. It was a good rain. The kind you like when you’re quiet at home,” explains María, who lived until a few years ago hours in a pretty stone house with arabic tile which is now destroyed.
“I found out I had to leave because they sent me a WhatsApp video showing how much water the river was carrying. I said, “Is this here?” “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. Louisas he takes a drag on a cigarette and sees the remains of what was once the old town of the city. All of the neighbors’ memories of Tuesday’s tragedy have the same connection: No one knew what was happening until, suddenly, nothing was the same.
Some have realized for the screams. Others, because they saw floating vans. There was a neighbor who managed to leave before the remains of the considered worst DANA of the century. Instead, six they disappeared at the bottom of the brown water, of this waterfall that has become the town of La Mancha of barely 1,000 inhabitants. Antonia, Dolores, Jonathan, Mónica, Manuel and Juan. Their loved ones cried inconsolably as they watched the work of hundreds of rescuers, soldiers and police officers.
A group of troops works in the Old Town district of Letur.
One dead and four missing
And people still cry. Penalty, of 92 years oldwas found deceased at the end of this Wednesday morning. According to official sources, his body was located in first level of the two that your house has. He couldn’t climb any higher to get out of harm’s way. Antony, of 86 years old, and also missing all night, she was found alive with her son. Although stunned, she was rescued by the Civil Guard services only 24 hours after the start of the biggest disaster ever seen in the city. Sierra del Segura.
Antonia, 86, in conversation with EL ESPAÑOL and other media after being rescued.
To search for missing people – or even more, because new disappearances cannot be ruled out – there are 200 people working without a break, taking advantage of the hours of sunshine but also those of the night. The story of marriage consisting of Jonathan And Monica, 37 and 38 years old, is the one that is repeated the most among the inhabitants of Letur. The two men were in their house, waiting on the balcony to be rescued by a helicopter, when the flood swept away the house.
This house is the epicenter of tragedy. The first one you see from the front when you arrive in the center of the city. White in color, he suffered, according to specialists, “a mouthful” [golpe de agua que rompió la estructura] which practically caused the construction to collapse. The worst, without a doubt, explains Jose Luis while a helicopter flies behind him Civil Guard. “Holy Virgin,” he said. “I will never be able to erase this image from my head,” he continues, as tears begin to well up in his eyes. “They screamed for help before the water engulfed them. They became uncontrollable. It’s very hard”ruling on matters of marriage.
“Unable to describe it”
Although he feels devastated, José Luis also explains that he was able to see how a neighbor, Elena, was saved. “She managed to hold on and the flood couldn’t take her away. But I won’t be able to delete I never see people screaming for help when you can’t do anything. Like him, now living in a caravan, many neighbors have found themselves homeless since last night. The majority have already been relocated after being housed in the city’s public school.
José Luis poses for EL ESPAÑOL in front of the old town of Letur.
Fernando consoles himself by saying that he did not have to mourn personal losses but he says, in recounting what happened, that “he lost everything”. Just below his house, what was once his management office is completely destroyed. All that remains is mud, broken furniture and destroyed documents. Next door, his garage, where he kept three cars, useless now, and several goods of great personal value.
“I can’t describe it. Everything was closed in case water got into the house, but all of a sudden waves of some arrived three meters” he said, pointing out the mark that the current made on the facade of his house. Even if everything was airtight, the force of the water broke a window of the business and the rest is already predictable. There is no nothing useful.
Condition of Fernando’s garage after the flood.
Debris, mud and troops
Carmina, a nurse, also cries, while dealing with the media present. He says that the mountain must be cleaned, that the flood has gained a lot of strength because of all the weeds it has brought with it. “All deaths are horrible. But to die like this…”ends. Since Dolores’ death was confirmed, the town remains in suspense. And he can’t breathe with the disappearance – for the moment – of Jonathan, Mónica, Manuel and Juan. “If they could be alive? I don’t know anymore.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, everyone staying at the public school began heading down toward the city center. Many were unable to observe the horizonreduced to rubble, mud and spare limbs. They left everything behind, they say: they left with a change of clothes and some were not even able to obtain the necessary medicines. “I’ve been wearing the same clothes since yesterday. But that’s the least I can do. I didn’t eat anything. I didn’t eat or dine. “I can’t believe what happened… in an instant,” sighs Sofía, in her thirties.
Others began to arrive nearby placesas Madrid, where they usually live, work or study. The face of CarmenA 19 year old young manit was devastating when he saw with his own eyes what “his town, that of his parents and that of his grandparents” had become. Next to her, her parents were crying. Other groups simply watched. Dazed. And once night fell, everyone fell silent.
