If the devastation of Paiporta is impressive during the day because it seems that a tsunami has passed, not a flood, at night it is overwhelming. Among puddles of mud, mountains of destroyed cars and piles of rubble and garbage emerge that pile up everywhere, giving off a stench of putrefaction and decomposition that makes you recoil even when wearing a mask. A week after the catastrophe, electricity has been restored in a good part of the town, but there are still many buildings without electricity or water and the atmosphere is still just as ghostly. With the basements of the buildings burst, its streets look like a zone of war, especially now that the police and army presence has increased. With the sirens of their SUVs flashing in the middle of the darkness, police and soldiers patrol incessantly among the ruins to prevent the looting that has put fear into the bodies of those affected by the catastrophe. As if it wasn’t enough for them to lose their relatives, their cars and belongings swept away by the current, now some heartless people want to take what little they have left. Related News standard Yes Six days of fruitless search in the Albufera among logs, reeds and floating tanks José Ramón Navarro-Pareja | La Albufera (Valencia) standard Si Masanasa, the town without mattresses: “I’ve been sleeping on the floor for six days” Pablo LodeiroArmored townsSo far, the Civil Guard has arrested 107 people for looting. Taking advantage of the chaos in the towns devastated by the flood, they sneaked in trying to steal everything they could find at hand. Organized in gangs that move throughout the affected area, they began with the shops and houses and then continued with the vehicles, from which they tear off valuable parts such as tires from high-end cars, which can cost up to a thousand euros.A From now on, they are going to have it much more difficult not only because the light has returned, but because towns like Paiporta are shielding themselves with the police and the army. During the hours we spent in Paiporta in the early hours of this Wednesday, patrols were constant throughout the municipality in order to scare away the criminals. Even so, and as we could see in one of the alleys in the center, some thieves who live in ‘squatted’ apartments go out at night, with a backpack on their back, to see if they can manage to steal something.ÁLVARO YBARRA ZAVALDeliverers at the edge of a ‘buggy’In the face of that meanness, quite the opposite. While a few hide in the shadows to do their thing, many others also dive into the night for very different reasons: to help and bring a little warmth and humanity to those who need it most in these dramatic moments. Like the sisters Clara and Lorena Rodríguez, who tour Paiporta aboard Misael Nabuurs’ ‘buggy’ to avoid the puddles and mud in the streets and distribute humanitarian aid. Paiporta, Valencia – November 5, 2024: A group of soldiers carry out relief work clearing debris in the streets of Paiporta. Álvaro ybarra zavala« We are distributing in the lower parts of the houses, especially where elderly people live who are only cared for by neighbors because they cannot go out due to the state of the streets. We bring them food, such as fruit, vegetables and coffee, and cleaning products, since they don’t get help unless it’s from the volunteers,” Clara explains to us as we accompany her in the back of the ‘buggy’. Like her and her sister Lorena works in the hardware company that belongs to her family, they bring, in addition to food, very necessary items at this time such as special anti-cut gloves, masks, hydroalcoholic gel and wellies, for which they have placed an order with the Italian distributor that supplies them. “In addition to coffee, which is the most in demand among the military, police, workers and volunteers who work at night, I was surprised that the soldiers come without masks or gloves,” says Lorena. «Just yesterday (on Monday), some firefighters asked me for a diver (disposable waterproof suit), gloves and masks. I don’t care, but I think it’s something they should bring as a team,” adds Clara. As we later saw throughout the night, the soldiers are dedicated to removing appliances and furniture from the streets without wearing gloves, which causes some to suffer cuts and wounds. “Catastrophic” situation With the ‘buggy’ we barely entered an alley that is completely dark and where debris and garbage accumulate and almost cut off our path. Fran Mas Sanchís lives there, who complains that “the situation has been catastrophic because the aid has come very late and, after a week, the street is full and smells like dead people or rotten meat. This is already unhealthy. For this reason, I put on the mask as soon as I go out and I no longer trust drinking water.” Paiporta, Valencia – November 5, 2024: Fran Mas Sanchis’ family returns home from a relative’s house through the streets of Paiporta when they come across a group of volunteers who offer them basic necessities and food. ÁLVARO YBARRA ZAVALA After seven days, his house has finally recovered electricity and hot water, but he has still not been informed about the removal of the rubble. “My car is still there in the garage, flooded, but I can’t get it out because there’s no room,” he laments, illuminating with a flashlight the mountain of garbage that occupies half of the alley. Fran, who is a truck driver, was bothered by the flood. He was caught 30 kilometers from Piaporta, but his wife, Isabel Rodríguez, and his son rescued two elderly people from a house that was beginning to flood. In their home, the water reached two meters high and both Isabel and her son and the rescued elderly had to take refuge on their terrace. «We were incommunicado for 24 hours and I walked back the next day. “People imagine that the water rises like that,” he says, indicating a straight horizontal rise, “but this was a wave and here it dragged a man whom they were finally able to grab,” says Fran. In his opinion, “this is due to the neglect of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, which has abandoned the Poyo and Chiva ravines, which has caused this disaster. Many plans are made, but then they are never executed. “Paiporta, Valencia – November 5, 2024: A group of residents of Paiporta walk in the darkness of the streets of Paiporta completely devastated by the Dana Pass. ÁLVARO YBARRA ZAVALAU A few meters later, after seeing us from his first floor, Amparo Peris, 86 years old, dares to open the door to ask for a roll of paper and a bag with fruits and vegetables. “The water reached here,” says a brown line two meters high on its portal. Until this Tuesday, when the power was finally restored, he managed to light himself with “candles that he had bought for the souls for All Saints’ Day.” Given the wave of looting that has occurred at night, her grandson comes to sleep at her house and feels “calmer”, but she will never be able to forget this flood, much more powerful than the others she has experienced in the past. Nightmares about at nightAt night she also has nightmares and cannot sleep Tatiana, a Bulgarian woman who has lived in Paiporta for years and miraculously survived the flood, which surprised her on the road. “I had to swim out of the car and the water dragged me until I could get to safety, but now I have strange itching,” he tells a volunteer doctor who has come in a convoy of off-road vehicles from the ‘influencer’ Garage13 Competition. At the wheel of one of them, and offering his help through a megaphone, is Álvaro, a civil guard who has used his free days to come and help the victims. Like him, there are many other off-duty soldiers and police officers who have come as volunteers. MORE INFORMATION news Yes The damage caused by DANA has reached 32% of the Valencian GDP, according to its Chamber of Commerce news No Road restrictions are extended for two days to facilitate emergency work by DANA news Yes The Civil Guard urges the families of the missing to provide DNA samples news Yes DANA devastates the great bullfighting treasure of Valencia: history and a million euros turned into mud news Yes Flood-prone areas In which areas of Spain can this phenomenon be repeated? After a week with very few resources, in Paiporta you can already see a legion of soldiers with cranes and trucks to remove the debris. The military is even using its powerful BMR armored tanks to drag cars to parks and open fields, its pilots demonstrating the skill of surgeons to park them with gentle pushes with the nose. Although disasters can bring out the most vile in human beings with cases of looting also bring out the best in each person as seen in all these examples of service and solidarity.
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