DANA in Spain: devastation, victims and urgent rescue

DANA has left a desolate scene in Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha, with the search for missing people in full progress.

At least 104 people have lost their lives, and the material damage is incalculable.

Roads blocked, isolated areas and entire neighborhoods flooded by water, mud and landslides.

The Government has mobilized more than 1,200 personnel from the Ministry of Defense, the Military Emergency Unit and the Armed Forces.

Rescue and cleanup in a Spain devastated by DANA

The objective is to support rescue and cleanup efforts in the most affected areas.

In Valencia, the catastrophe has left 75,000 people without electricity and many municipalities without drinking water.

This is the most serious atmospheric tragedy in Spain in more than half a century.

A police officer in Paiporta describes the devastation: “It is devastating, the streets look like something out of a zombie apocalypse.”

The streets are full of mud, piled cars and scattered belongings, creating an image of absolute chaos.

“There are cars piled up forming barricades in the streets,” says this agent after 24 hours in water and mud.

The blisters on his feet are witnesses of the extreme effort: “I have walked non-stop in water and mud.”

Without his own vehicle, he had to walk home and return to work immediately.

In Paiporta and Benetússer, the destruction has reached all businesses.

Bakeries and workshops have been razed, and supermarkets have been looted.

The police station has also been completely destroyed, with no space for shelter.

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In the midst of the desolation, the most painful thing are the fatalities that arise when clearing flooded areas.

“There are dead people on ground floors and basements, trapped while trying to save their vehicles.”

The situation leaves a void in the community, comparable to «a kind of apocalypse.»