Two weeks after the tragedy, in the streets of ground zero of the floods there are still volunteer firefighters from practically every corner of Spain shrinking garages, opening businesses, cleaning streets… One of the first teams to arrive were the Madrid Ericam (Emergency and Immediate Response of the Community of Madrid), a unit created in 2007 that the day after the flood already had 31 personnel on the ground. That first relief was very hard even for professionals like them, experienced in earthquakes such as those in Haiti, Lorca, Turkey and Morocco: they had to rescue several bodies from the rubble and mud and the population still did not even have basic services such as water and light. A week after the flood, the initial chaos had begun to subside, but the work of these firefighters and health workers was still just as necessary. «We are the second relief that Madrid sends and we are about 68 troops in the area. Mainly, our work consists of checking garages to bail out water, refloat vehicles and check for dead people. Yesterday, unfortunately, we found a body,” Guillermo Gosalbo, the official responsible for Ericam in Valencia, said last week. The canine team, for example, stayed home after that first relief, as their rescue dogs are trained to act immediately after the emergency and find survivors. The animals that track corpses, he points out, are trained in a different way. “Every morning we have a meeting with the Valencia liaison officer and they assign us the areas in which we have to operate, in the last few days in Sedaví,” he details. Gosalbo while directing several colleagues about to enter a neighbor’s still flooded garage. It is not the only Ericam group that works in the area: they are divided into four teams that operate simultaneously, with their recognizable Firefighters and Summa-112 vehicles, in several streets in the same environment. Related News Standard videos No The day after The devastating effects throughout Spain Adrián Peñacoba and Pablo AmigoThe day of these volunteers in Valencia exceeds twelve hours a day: they start at 7 in the morning and do not end until 9 p.m. Bailing a flooded garage, they say, can take five or six hours, and that’s working with several pumps. «Our work here is different from rescue after an earthquake. We do firefighting work like in Madrid: bailing, search and rescue of people, opening doors, gas cuts… Whatever it takes,” say the most veterans, taking advantage of a lunch break. Some are still surprised to see “in the first world” the piles of furniture full of mud accumulating in the streets. Cristina, one of the few firefighters in the group, with extensive experience in international disasters, recognizes that the landscape is like that which occurs after an earthquake, “with the only difference that there are buildings standing here.” When this ends working door to door, the Madrid contingent, which has also been joined by firefighters from different parks in the Community of Madrid, rests at the Blasco Ibáñez de Benetúser school, where they have not lacked anything, they acknowledge: «The people have been incredible , they have only had words of gratitude for us. People need to let go, as soon as you listen to them…” says Gosalbo. His team is already at home, but Ericam’s work continues: more than 40 volunteers, including firefighters and members of Summa-112, have picked up their baton, to which another 39 members of the Forestry Brigades must be added. So far, the Community of Madrid has mobilized 292 professionals including firefighters, rescuers, forensic doctors, psychologists, emergency health professionals and support. madrid_dia_0703«At the moment we have approximately 400 troops in Valencia. The work of health workers is going to be increasingly important,” explains Inma Sanz, vice mayor and delegate of Emergencies and Security of Madrid. As far as collection is concerned, much less is already coming in: “This is how we convey what the local councils in the area demanded of us, which was that this aid be redirected towards financial donations. We are talking about more than 1,000 tons that have been collected this time. For our part, 700,000 masks have been donated to Valencia. We will continue to help as long as necessary and in everything that is asked of us. “It seems that soon we may be asked for some more technical personnel to shore up buildings.”
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