People affected by the floods ask the City Council to give them a home to rebuild their lives
Although ten days have passed since the Javalí Viejo flood, the impression one gives upon arriving at Calle San Nicolás – the ‘ground zero’ of the floods – is that the residents who have been left homeless are reluctant to leave completely. those that were their homes, although they are totally destroyed and full of “mud that continues to come out everywhere,” according to what they say. «We come every day to let off steam, although when we go back into our houses it gives us the downturn. We are left with nothing. What we wear is borrowed or given away. Even the savings I had went floating with the water”, explains José Antonio Aguilar, one of those affected by the storm that discharged 41 liters of water in just ten minutes.
«It will take time to recover normality; You have to be aware that this is going to take a long time, “says the municipal mayor
José Antonio’s is one of the twenty families that have not been able to return to their homes since the flooding of the La Ventosa boulevard that caused the tragedy in the early hours of September 26 in which a neighbor died. «Antonio was the one who lost the most because the ‘poor guy’ drowned. At least we are alive to tell about it », he recalls about the night in which« the water hit the cannon and we lost everything ».
Only the paintings were saved
“Welcome to my humble home, the one most affected by the flood,” says José Antonio as he enters the home he inherited from his parents. “Luckily they haven’t had to live through this,” he thanks. The mark left by the water exceeds a meter and a half, there are traces of mud everywhere and only a few paintings remain that were saved from the flood due to the height at which they were hung. Next to an image of the Cristo del Rescate, José Antonio shows the marks of his hands on the wall of his living room while he recalls the anguished minutes in which he feared for his life. “My son hung himself as best he could on the profile of the entrance door and my wife stayed at the top of the stairs that leads to the terrace, but we couldn’t go up because the door was locked for security. It was horrible. The water was up to our necks. I thought we wouldn’t tell, but in the end we managed to get out.”
Since that night when he did not sleep a wink, aware of the danger that the proximity of the promenade entailed, José Antonio says that he has not been able to sleep without the images of an early morning that he will never forget passing through his mind. «Now we sleep in a hotel in Murcia, but it is crap and we are not comfortable at all. We have asked that they leave us a place in conditions to be able to live while the aid that we have processed to fix the house arrives », he highlights. And it is that José Antonio is clear that he will not leave his home. “It’s the only thing I have left from my parents and I want to continue here, even if I run away every time there is a forecast of torrential rain,” he confesses.
“My son is terrified”
This is not the case of Toñi González and Rubén García, two other residents of Javalí Viejo who will have to start from scratch after the flood. They have already decided that they will not return to the house where they suffered the devastating effects of the floods. “My son is ten years old and he doesn’t want to live here, he’s panicking,” Toñi argues with watery eyes. Since they were renting, they are looking for another house while staying with some friends from the village. “We were sleeping when we heard a very loud noise and when we got up the water was already up to our knees. We caught the kid running and climbed onto the terrace, where the firemen rescued us. Words cannot explain everything we have suffered », he emphasizes. That is why they agree with their neighbor José Antonio that what would really help them is for the Murcia City Council to give them a home so they can rebuild their lives. “Money is the least important,” says Toñi.
According to the pedáneo, José Francisco Navarro, “it is still early to assess the damage because the houses continue to give way. The technicians have told us that we have to wait ten or fifteen days for everything to dry to see if there are any cracks and check the structures for damage. It will take time to return to normality, we must be aware that this is going to take a long time », he warns.
Campaign to collect food, money and basic goods
The Segura Food Bank has launched a campaign to collect funds, food and essential goods for those affected by the flood that the district of Javalí Viejo suffered in the early hours of September 26 after the flooding of the La Ventosa boulevard .
From the charity they have already sent several pallets with milk, cocoa powder, cookies and muffins from the social emergency fund of the Food Bank to the residents of the Murcian district who have lost their homes and all their belongings.
The Food Bank has enabled several channels of collaboration for those who wish to participate in this aid campaign. They can deliver food that does not need to be processed in the main warehouse that the organization has in the old Ciudad del Transporte de Murcia, located on Avenida Región Murciana. So that it is not necessary to travel to the facilities to collaborate, other open channels are the virtual purchase through the entity’s website (www.basmur.org) and the sending of aid through a Bizum shipment to phone number 00922.
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