Today’s blog entry is written out of sadness, but also out of hope. In Valencia these days we have experienced the greatest tragedy I can remember in my life, due to the very high number of deaths and the extent of the floods caused by the DANA. The storms and overflowing rivers and ravines have left almost 100 people dead (confirmed to date), an unknown number of people missing, thousands of people homeless and thousands of families without a livelihood, with small businesses, factories, vineyards and fields destroyed.
These kinds of catastrophes make you realise how helpless and tiny human beings are in the face of the force of nature. We become brutally aware of our fragility and how, from one day to the next, a person can lose everything. Even life.
The weather emergency had been announced in advance, but nobody could have foreseen the almost 500 litres per square metre in municipalities such as Chiva and Utiel, nor the force of the water making its way through the ravines towards the sea, nor the immense human and material damage caused. And all this despite the fact that, unfortunately, in the Valencian Community we have experienced very dramatic episodes in our history as a result of heavy rains: the DANA in the Vega Baja (south of Alicante, September 2019); the Tous swamp (Alzira, October 1982); or the historic flood of Valencia, in October 1957, after which the Turia riverbed was diverted and the new riverbed was built, which is what has saved the urban centre of Valencia city from flooding these days. And this is just to mention the most catastrophic ones.
From the first moment of this misfortune, we placed all the resources of the Ribera Group at the service of those affected by the DANA, the Valencian Government and the Emergency Coordination Service: hospitals, clinics and professionals.
We are dismayed and in shock. But at the same time, it is at times as hard as these that Valencian society has shown its strength, solidarity and hope, our capacity to work as a team and to rebuild from the mud, as we do from the ashes every March. Even with tears in our eyes, we have the amazing capacity to look to the future with hope and illusion. We Valencians are turning to our people, and for this reason, we will mourn with the families of the victims, we will try to comfort them and help them recover from this misfortune.
For all this and much more, today I am taking advantage of this blog entry to try to express in words, which is not easy, how proud I am to be Valencian, of the spirit, bravery and courage that characterises this society, prosperous and brilliant, tireless and persevering, optimistic, supportive and welcoming.
And finally, I would like to sincerely thank you for the dozens of calls and messages that I have received over the last few days from all corners of Spain and also from many countries in Europe and Latin America. Your encouragement gives us strength to recover from this catastrophe. Thank you.