A Week After Spain’s Floods, Families Hold Out Hope That Loved Ones Are Not Among The Dead

SEDAVI: Francisco Murgui went out to try to salv his motorbike when water started to rise. 

He never came back.

One week after catastrophic flooding devastated eastern Spain, María Murgui still holds out hope that her far is alive and among unkwn number of missing.

“He was like many people in town who went out to get ir car or motorbike to safety,” 27-year-old told Associated Press. “ flash flood caught him outside, and he had to cling to a tree in order to escape drowning. He called us to tell us that he was fine, that we shouldn’t worry.”

But when María set out into streets of Sedaví to try to rescue him from water washing away everything in its path, he was where to be found. “He held up until 1 in morning,” she said. “By 2, I went outside with a neighbor and a rope to try to locate him. But we couldn’t find him. And since n, we haven’t heard anything about him.”

At least 218 have been confirmed dead after a deluge caused by heavy rains late on Oct. 29 and next morning swamped entire communities, mostly in Spain’s Valencia region, catching most off guard. Regional authorities have been heavily criticized for having issued alerts to mobile phones some two hours after disaster had started.

Authorities have yet to any give an estimate of missing seven days on. Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, however, shows a steady stream of appeals by people who are searching for family members who are t accounted for.

María Murgui herself has posted a missing person’s mess on social media with a photo of her far, a 57-year-old retiree. “This is like riding a rollercoaster. Sometimes I feel very bad and sometimes I feel better. I try to stay positive,” she said. “This truly is madness. We don’t kw what else to do. Neir does anybody else in town.”

Central government passes relief pack

While many search for ir loved ones, gargantuan recovery efforts in Sedaví and dozens of or communities slowly moved forward.

To aid those in need, central government approved a 10.6-billion-euro relief pack for 78 communities on Tuesday. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez compared it to measures taken during COVID-19 pandemic. pack includes direct payments of 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros to owners of damd homes, among or financial aid for businesses and municipal governments. “We have a lot of work left to do, and we kw it,” Sánchez said.

Sánchez said that he will ask European Union to help pay for relief, saying “it is time for European Union to help.”

Many People Are Still Without Basic Goods Amid Scenes Of Devastation

floods have left behind post-apocalyptic scenes.

Street after street in town after town is still covered with thick brown mud and mounds of ruined belongings, clumps of rotting vegetation, and wrecked vehicles. A stench arises from muck. In many places, people still face shorts of basic goods, and lines form at impromptu emergency kitchens and stands handing out food. Water is running again but authorities say it is t fit for drinking.

ground floors of thousands of homes have been ruined. It is feared that inside some of vehicles that water washed away or trapped in underground gars re could be bodies waiting to be recovered. Thousands of soldiers are working with firefighters and police reinforcements in immense emergency response. Officers and troops are searching in destroyed homes, countless cars strewn across highways, streets, or lodged in mud in canals and gorges.

Authorities are worried about or health problems caused by aftermath of deadliest natural disaster in Spain’s recent history. y have urged people to get tetanus shots and to treat any wounds to prevent infections and to clean mud from ir skin. Many people wear face masks.

Thousands of volunteers are helping out, filling void left by authorities. But frustration over crisis manment boiled over on Sunday when a crowd in hard-hit Paiporta hurled mud and or objects at Spain’s royals, Sánchez and regional officials when y made ir first visit to epicenter of flood dam.

Sánchez’s national government is set to anunce a new pack of relief on Tuesday.