Red Cross differentiates for the management of its emergencies and disasters if it has occurred in a rural environment or an urban one. On this occasion, “the extent of the affected surface is so important, in such an overcrowded urban environment and with such an exorbitant number of vehicles stacked up and making it difficult for emergency services to pass through” that Inigo Silvahead of the device, is cautious when it comes to venturing a possible return to normality. The restoration will take “months”, in any case, “years” if we talk about infrastructure such as roads and access roads. “Many will have to be built again,” he says.
And he makes a comparison: in a much smaller area with fewer affected areas, La Palma, devastated by the volcano that roared three years ago, there are still vulnerable people living in modules and have not returned to their homes. “He hasn’t recovered 100% yet, three years later.” For these people, obviously, the return to normality is agonizing and very, very slow. “A lot also depends on administrative agility,” says Vila, who repeats that there are two conditioning factors that have aggravated the management of the tragedy in Valencia: the number of affected inhabitants and the difficulty in access.
Right now the initial task in which they are focused is no longer simple. It’s about cleaning and clearing debris of tens of thousands of tons of mud from damaged roads and municipalities, which will take several days. Another example that Vila brings up: it took a week to more or less recover normal life in Madrid after the snowfall caused by Filomena. In those seven days the city was “passable, with road traffic”, although the snow continued to accumulate for many more days on the roads, but once the main communication arteries are open, movement and the work of the entities is much easier. , review.
This first phase of cleaning is also made difficult, in this case, by the recovery of bodies and the search for missing persons. «You cannot clean for the sake of cleaning, which also delays the return to normality. There is a judicial process that mediates while the areas are cleaned.”
Damage assessment: second stage
The second stage that will be accompanied by the exact photo of the damage caused by DANA will be the evaluation of damages in business, homes, simultaneous with the administrative procedures and the assessment of insurance damages. This process takes weeks, maybe months, says Vila. Then work will be done on the recovery and rehabilitation of the lives of Valencians. “But very complex days await -he predicts-, especially marked by restrictions on movement. »In a few months we will see that life is already running smoothly, although not normally«, he clarifies.
Third phase: psychological
The figures of DANA’s footprint are very voluminous: there are still 100,000 people without electricity supply, 48 hours after the deadly storm, there are more than 300,000 people suffering from water restrictions, there are thousands of vehicles piled up, a figure not yet determined by local police and Civil Guard. The Red Cross has mobilized 250 volunteers, 1,200 people have been relocated in the resources available throughout the Valencian Community and has provided almost 4,000 assistance to affected people. “There are people who spend the night in a square in our shelters, go to look for their missing relatives and come back,” says Silva.
Precisely the psychosocial care of families is one of the pillars of the work that the organization does in the face of these catastrophes. The victims “are in shock right now. They are going to need references, support and for issues that are in principle as basic as suggest they rest and eat«. The psychological trauma that the families affected by the deadly DANA in Valencia will go through is also not tangible and may loom in the medium and long term. The support of these families for the Red Cross is essential and not abandoning them in their grief, something they are focused on right now.
Furthermore, Vila places great emphasis on the need to also care for the intervener, since the organization’s own volunteers will also need psychological assistance at some point. “We have volunteers affected by DANA itself,” who are working to help the rest, then troops from other provinces and territories of the Peninsula will be deployed, he comments. And the Red Cross itself, as the head of Emergencies tells ABC, has been affected in its own resources, with the loss of a warehouse completely destroyed in the town of Picanya and several vehicles disabled. Now, with other vehicles put at the service of combating the tragedy, they are trying to access all the towns and distribute aid. «Today Thursday [por ayer] We have managed to enter Requena escorted by the Civil Guard. But trapped it is difficult to react. What we are seeing in this emergency is that we are delaying and we are going slower than we would like and it is common due to the difficulty in accessing people who really need our help,” shares Silva.
Hostels
The Red Cross has launched seven shelters in six locations, in which there are 260 beds and 1,200 guests, according to the update this Thursday at noon, but the deployment will increase. The humanitarian organization has also located seven distribution points for goods, where they have delivered 3,126 meals to affected people and responders, hundreds of hygiene kits and 1,500 blankets. Today Inditex has announced the donation of two million euros to Cáritas and another two million to the Red Cross to provide some of these services to affected people. Among the resources that are working right now on the part of the Red Cross there are also a boat, a specialized vehicle, three ambulances, 21 personal transport vehicles, a 4×4 vehicle and a logistics transport.
The first response link is always your neighbor
The red star organization always draws lessons from crises. One of the lessons that Vila provides is that «the first link of response and help is your neighbor“, not the rescue organizations,” he asserts, as has been seen in the number of people helped by his countrymen. »Zero risk does not exist. Despite the phenomenon, it is extraordinary that 500 liters fall in eight hours. We must promote the culture of risk prevention in Spain,” he points out. The differential element is the frequency with which these episodes occur. It is the next factor that must be put into the equation. For this reason, the other moral that the head of Emergencies leaves is that “civil protection begins with oneself, self-protection, sufficient awareness to internalize that you have to carry an emergency kit in the car or have your own personal contingency plan.” in the face of a possible tragedy of nature. Because once again he shows us that he can come back stronger.”
For the head of Red Cross Emergencies, who has participated in national crises such as the tragic flooding of the Biescas campsite in Huesca, the Spanair plane accident in Madrid or the Alvia accident in Santiago and in international ones such as the migratory crisis in Greece , the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 or Hurricane Katrina in the United States, «Managing a crisis like this is a medium-term race» and highlights that the important thing is the dosage of forces and ensuring that there is personnel rotation, with sufficient breaks, because “you could mobilize 2,000 volunteers now and run out of them in two weeks, burning them out or tiring them out. Continuity must be guaranteed. The device will scale. It goes through cycles and people don’t discourage him the passage of time, because after the emergency, we will continue working in Valencia.” The tragedy and its digestion will take months.
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