The province of Valencia try this wednesday recover from disasters caused by torrential rains of the DANA. The death toll from the passage of the storm through the region has already risen to 70 fatalitiesas reported this Wednesday by the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat Valenciana.
The worst part has been borne by L’Horta Sud regionwhere the water has destroyed trees, roads, cars and street furniture. Especially affected have been the towns surrounding the Barranco del Poyo, which has experienced a historic flood, making this DANA the worst recorded so far this century in the Community.
In Paiportaone of the most affected municipalities, The situation is “dramatic” and “a humanitarian emergency”with severe communication and coverage problems throughout the area. In the floods in this town, at least five elderly people have lost their lives when they were trapped in a residence, in addition to two civil guards and the wife of one of them that were in the basement of the municipal headquarters.
In this same town, The overflow of the ravine has knocked down one of the walkways that connects this municipality with that of Picanya. In this sense, the mayor of Paiport, Maribel Albalat, has described the scene as “tragic”, and speaks of “dozens of deaths” due to the speed of the flood and the lack of preparation of the inhabitants to face this emergency.
For its part, in Alfafar About a hundred people have been trapped and have had to take refuge in the cinemas of the MN4 shopping and leisure centre, as the basements of the car park have collapsed. flooded in less than an hour and they have not been able to get out of there.
Also the municipalities of the neighboring region of the Hoya de Buñol have been affected by the rains. The town of Chiva has been devastated, after the DANA unloaded in a few hours more than 445 liters of water per square meter. The prevailing image in its streets is characterized by piled-up cars, mud and debris everywhere. Thus, the Mislata City Council has offered its support to Chiva, making its municipal brigades and equipment available to help with the cleanup and recovery.
For its part, in the regions of Ribera Alta and Utiel-Requenatorrential rains – in some cases more than 300 liters per square meter – have overflowed the Magro River as it passes through several municipalities such as Utiel, Carlet or AlgemesÃand have caused the activation of the hydrological alert to keep the population away from channels, boulevards and ravines.
Why didn’t the water reach Valencia?
While the towns located south of the city of Valencia suffer the effects of the floods, the urban center of the Valencian capital has remained safe thanks to the new channel of the Turia river. This historic detour was designed after the 1957 flood to avoid similar disasters, and during this DANA has prevented torrential rains from flooding Valencia.
In some videos shared by users on social networks you can see the difference between the border north of the channel -towards the city of Valencia- and the southern towns, completely flooded by the rains.
The new channel has a length of more than 11 kilometers and a total capacity of 5,000 cubic meters. Thus, despite the unprecedented flooding of the Turia that occurred on Tuesday night, the river did not overflow. The effects of this flood were only notable in areas near V-30where some flooding occurred, but the city itself has been spared an episode that could have been catastrophic.