EFE.- The search for possible victims of the heavy torrential rains that devastated part of the Spanish province of Valencia (east) eleven days ago continues this Saturday with the help of technological resources (georadar and bathymetry) in the Albufera coastal lagoon.
Searches also continue in the area of the Magro River, the Poyo Rambla, the mouth of the Turia River and the Mediterranean Sea, after the catastrophic storm has caused at least 212 deaths in Valencia, and about 50 people are still missing.
The disaster caused seven fatalities in the bordering region of Castilla-La Mancha and one more in the Andalusian province of Málaga (south).
In the areas of Valencia devastated by the flood (75 affected municipalities) there are around 2,450 firefighters from more than 40 organizations and 8,000 soldiers deployed, including 52 divers, as well as 9,700 Police and Civil Guard agents and 130 regional agents. Valencians.
The Ministry of the Interior, at the request of the Valencian regional government, requested the activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism to incorporate high-capacity pumping equipment and Technical Assistance and Support experts in emergency tasks.
A flood of volunteers to help
Like last weekend, a wave of volunteers is heading this Saturday to the most affected Valencian towns to help clean homes, remove tons of mud, debris, vegetation and useless belongings from the streets and help the neighbors in whatever they need.
The floods have caused multimillion-dollar property damage to private and public properties such as bridges and roads, many of them still impassable.
The authorities insist that everyone who goes to the affected areas to help must take health protection measures and follow health recommendations, including wearing a mask, gloves, boots, long sleeves and pants, and eye protection, especially when handling stagnant water or mud due to the risk of infections, washing hands with bottled water.
The Volunteer Platform of the Valencian region organized, at the request of the city councils, 1,400 people a day for this weekend.
The volunteers named Valencia’s ‘Bridge of Solidarity’ the walkway over the Turia River that they cross to help, like Paqui, a woman who insists that she is willing to help with whatever is needed: “If it is removing mud, removing mud, and if not, trying to remove furniture from the house.”
The authorities have arranged teams of psychologists to care for people traumatized by the catastrophic effects of the floods.
Major damage in the field
Among the damaged properties are thousands of agricultural and livestock farms, specifically 25,000 hectares of crops such as persimmon, citrus, vegetables and vines, according to provisional calculations by the countryside insurance entity, Agroseguro.
There are at least 10,000 affected farmers in 50,000 plots and the volume of affected production amounts to 650 million kilos, according to Agroseguro data.
The capital insured in these areas is 250 million euros (268 million dollars), but experts have not yet estimated the expected compensation.
Thousands of companies, small and large businesses, have also been harmed by the great avalanche of water and mud, which invaded all types of properties and left millions of products of all kinds, food, appliances, clothing, tools or automobiles unusable.
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