In just eight hours the rain flooded Chiva with the water that, on average, falls in a year. However, it took half an hour for the town to plunge into chaos. At 8:00 p.m. the Valencian municipality was left in darkness, and accompanied by the blackout came liters of water, mud and despair. Julián Gómez and Rosa Sendra, a 30-year-old couple who moved to Chiva just six months ago, entered their house just before the tragedy began. “We were able to close the door when the water began to reach our knees.” I knocked down a table at the entrance while Rosa closed the windows and we went up to the second floor to pray that it would be enough to not drown,” he explains. Luckily, and despite being locked up for more than a day, they have been able to survive the storm. But not everyone in the town can say the same. «In the middle of the night we could hear how my neighbor, Manuel, screamed for help. When I wanted to look out to communicate with him, I saw how the water broke his windows and flooded his basement,” Gómez comments with a broken voice, just before adding that “his screams died down and there was silence.” On Thursday morning, When he was finally able to leave the house with his partner, he ‘confirmed’ that Manuel must be dead. «There is no way he could have survived. “His house is completely flooded and full of debris.” He tried, together with the neighbors who took him out of the house, to open a hole in the house, but they feared that the structure would give way and take more than one building with it. Related News standard No DANA’s ‘ground zero’: Chiva, Buñol or Turís received in eight hours the water that falls in an entire year in Valencia Isabel Miranda standard No The tide of solidarity overflows: on foot to help in the area zero Toni JiménezNo trace of security teamsUntil now, they have not received help from any security body, so they cannot go beyond what their limited resources allow them to do. «The few of us who are on the street are thanks to other neighbors. If it weren’t for them, no one here would have made it out alive. They used tractors to remove the debris that blocked the door of my house, they gave me food and even a battery so I could charge my cell phone and talk to you,” says Gómez, who adds that “in the end it is the people who save the people.” “No assistance of any kind has arrived, the UME has stayed on the A-3 but neither they nor the Police nor the Civil Guard have entered the town,” he laments, while commenting with horror that houses have disappeared. entire, some of them inhabited. “If no one goes to look for them, there will have to be another two dozen victims, at least.” Chiva City Council requests help The citizens and the Chiva City Council feel completely abandoned after the passage of DANA through the municipality. Without running water and without the necessary food, citizen collaboration is the only thing that keeps the ruins of the town standing. As detailed in a statement, they need water and food to supply the neighbors “because no assistance of any kind has yet arrived in the town.” For its part, the Town Hall building has become a central point from where it is received and delivers all the supplies the neighbors need, but it is not enough. The City Council has also requested help from medical and psychological services to be able to serve the population. “Fuel and mechanics are needed to be able to repair the heavy machinery that has broken down and is necessary to undertake cleaning tasks.” The particular geography of the town, large and with several residential areas, could still bring unpleasant surprises. Just as the hundreds of people who remain in the town fear, leaving and entering is, even today, almost impossible.
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