BBC OS Conversations: The aftermath of the Valencia floods

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2024

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

More than two weeks after the floods that swept through the Valencia region of Spain, the streets are still being cleared of mud and debris. More than 220 people are known to have died but many more have lost their homes and businesses. In our conversations, a family shares their experience of searching for their father and we hear how a mother is struggling to come to terms with the events she witnessed. Meanwhile, recriminations are flying over who is to blame. Officials are facing criticism for failing to issue a weather warning to people’s phones in time, and for the slow mobilisation in the aftermath of the disaster. Three volunteers who have been helping with the rescue effort share their frustrations with the government response.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Mark Lohen. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. In BBC OS conversations, we bring people together to share their experiences. This time, it's conversations on the aftermath of the Valencia floods.
0:14.7	More than two weeks on, and streets are still being cleared of mud and debris after the disaster that killed more than 220 people.
0:23.3	In our conversations, one family describes the search for their father,
0:27.0	and we meet three rescue volunteers angry that the authorities have not been doing enough.
0:31.7	We feel abandoned, we feel insecure, we feel our heads can just not understand this.
0:40.0	Because if civilians are able to do it with either two pair of hands and with a broom, how come there's no organisation at those levels?
0:48.1	The forecast on the 29th of October warned of rain along the Valencia region of Spain's Mediterranean
0:54.0	coast, but for many
0:55.6	people, an official warning of severe weather came far too late. By the time government leaders had
1:02.1	issued an alert directly to people's phones, the flash flants were already causing enormous damage.
1:07.6	In one of the worst affected towns, Piporta, where at least 60 people died,
1:12.8	waves of water swept cars and people along the streets, flooding buildings in minutes.
1:18.6	In the aftermath of the disaster, I was sent to cover the story for the BBC. I've never seen
1:23.9	that level of devastation from weather. It was like a bomb had been dropped from
1:28.5	the air, destroying everything in its wake. Cars crushed, houses flooded, entire neighbourhoods
1:34.8	caked in mud. These are some of the things people had to say to my colleague Ikra Farouk,
1:40.2	who travelled out to the region with me. The people started screaming, the water is coming, and she said, I'm very scared, please come here,
1:50.8	and then lights turn off.
1:55.9	We were submerged in water, and we can never have imagined this travesty.
2:00.8	I got out first, out of the three brothers
2:03.2	because I had a car ready to go and I wanted to get the car out and not let it get submerged in case
2:08.8	there was an ambulance or something not to get in the way. My brother, the other brother, got his car
	...

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