When strong torrential rains drove the water in the rivers around the city of Valencia to dangerous levels last week, local residents living in the neighborhoods by the rivers did not realize the grave dangers they faced.
"When we talk about this particular area, we’re used to having this kind of big rains. This is an area located on the Mediterranean coast. And we had this kind of big rains from time to time. People were not scared, because we were used to this kind of rains," Victoria Falco, who worked at a local nonprofit named Medicus Mundi Mediterrania, said to Sputnik.
The activist went on to illustrate the kind of attitude local residents had when they saw heavy rainfalls.
"It’s something very complex. About one month ago, it was raining heavily and I saw the water in the river rising. But if we don’t receive an alarm warning me that it’s going to be very dangerous, people would keep working, keep doing sports or keep sending their kids to school. Only when we receive alerts on our mobile phones [last week], that’s when we started to realize how dangerous it was," she said.
Falco blamed local authorities for issuing the warning about the dangers of the rising water in the rivers too late.
"There are three rivers in the area. One big river and two smaller rivers. The first big overflowing of the rivers began around 6:30 pm [on Oct 29]. But only around 8:10 pm, people started to receive alerts on their mobile phones. It’s clear that the politicians and the alarm system did not take it seriously," she said.
As local residents were not fully aware of the dangers they faced, the delayed alarm from authorities also gave them no time to react when the floods rushed in.
"The problem was that it happened superfast. People had no time to react. If you were walking in the streets, or you were driving, in five minutes, you saw water coming to you. You didn’t have time to get out of the car and run to a safe place. Some people even climbed to the roof of their cars to protect themselves," Falco said.
When faced with the sudden dangers from the heavy floods, many people also panicked, as they did not have experiences dealing with such situations.
"That’s one of the big problems, because we were not prepared to respond to this kind of situation quickly enough. When I see the water rushing in, I don’t know what to do. What I think is that I have to go to my car and try to drive away. But in fact, I have to do the contrary. I have to get out of the car and look for a safe place, maybe somewhere higher," Falco said.
Nevertheless, the activist stressed that the catastrophe and the shocking death toll resulted from the recent floods were primarily caused by the systematic failure of the government.
"This is not only a natural disaster. It’s about the politics behind, and something in the system didn’t work properly. That’s why people were so angry. If this is a natural disaster caused by climate change, people would not be so angry [with] politicians. People were angry [with] politicians because of the delay in sending out the alarms to everyone," she said.
The recent floods in Spain have become the worst flood-related disaster in Europe since 1967, when more than 500 people were killed during the flash floods in Portugal.
Political Exploits
When Spanish officials, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, visited the worst-hit towns in the recent floods, such as Paiporta, over the weekend, they faced an angry crowd chanting "murderers" and hurling objects and mud that hit some of the visiting officials.
While many local residents, especially those who lost loved ones during the recent tragedy, were indeed angry [with] Spanish authorities, there were other groups who wanted to take advantage of the public grievance for political purposes, Falco pointed out.
"People were angry [with] the politicians. But at the same time, there was a group of right-wing activists who wanted to promote this kind of protests against the politicians. It seems that there were a group of ultra-right activists who were not affected in the floods and they came from outside those towns. They were the ones who threw the mud towards the King and the Queen. There was a lot of politics behind this situation," she said.
Instead of exploiting the disaster for political gains, Falco said the focus should be on offering assistance to those affected by the devastating floods.
"In the worst affected towns, most of the people have lost their cars. That’s unbelievable. And many families lost everything inside their house. The schools and health centers were also damaged. Most of the first floor of some neighborhoods were completely submerged under water. When the water receded, they had to try to clean out all the mud that’s left," she said.
Falco’s organization has been working with other local non-governmental organizations to provide medical assistance to those in need and collect necessary supplies to help those affected rebuild their lives.
"Everyone is trying to help. There are volunteers from other parts of Spain or from other countries. A lot of people have come and offered their support," she said.
As Falco lived about 45 minutes’ drive away from the worst-hit towns, she said she planned to go to those towns in the next few days to see if she could offer more direct assistance to those affected by the floods.