Six months after the deadly floods, Valencia is still recovering — and looking at ways to improve protection against extreme weather in the future.
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00:00Finally, Joaquin Raga is back at work.
00:05Today, he and his colleague are cutting to size parts
00:08to build a new door for a home that was devastated
00:11in the historic floods in Spain's Valencia region.
00:14It's only the first step in rebuilding the house.
00:23It's in bad shape.
00:25The house was flooded by over a meter of water inside.
00:29A situation he can relate to.
00:32His own home and his workshop in Catarroja was also badly flooded.
00:39Weeks after the catastrophe, access from the street was still close to impossible.
00:44The mud and water destroyed most of Joaquin Raga's tools and machines.
00:49Volunteers helped him get rid of the mud that covered everything up to this line here.
00:55Approximately 2.5 meters.
00:59Today, many months later, he has new machines and tools
01:03thanks to financial aid funds and his insurance.
01:06But lately, rains in the region have brought back traumatic memories
01:10from last October's extreme weather.
01:13There's fear more than anything.
01:19We store the tools up high.
01:21But if the water is 2.5 meters deep, we'll lose everything again.
01:25And then what?
01:27Would we get financial aid again?
01:29Either way, we'd lose everything.
01:31For people in Catarroja, carrying on is tough.
01:35The floods in the Valencia region were among Spain's worst in history.
01:39The alert on that day came too late.
01:42According to the World Meteorological Organization,
01:46an effective flood warning system could have helped avoid the level of destruction and the fatalities.
01:52People in the affected towns organize regular vigils to remember the over 200 people who lost their lives.
02:05Their loved ones.
02:10In the meantime, roads and houses are being reconstructed.
02:14But in the long run, communities are exploring how to make infrastructure more resilient.
02:23The clean-up is ongoing.
02:25Here at the edge of the Albufera Natural Park, a wetland not far from Catarroja,
02:30there is still a lot of waste that washed up with the floods.
02:34These volunteers from the University of Valencia are helping out.
02:39I found a dog bowl and a lot of plastic.
02:45We also found a lot of facial cleanser and creams.
02:49It's very difficult to collect it all because so much is buried.
02:53So you have to dig and excavate.
02:55That's how you get the things out.
02:58A lot of liquid or solid toxic waste was also washed into the natural park.
03:05Even medicine from pharmaceutical warehouses.
03:08Ecologist Javier Armengol is worried about the environmental toll.
03:14It all has an impact on organisms that live in the ecosystems.
03:19And we don't know exactly how.
03:21But we can analyze the details of these elements.
03:25We know that a lot has been washing up.
03:27But there is also a lot of water.
03:29We don't know what it will do, but we're looking into it.
03:33In the first days after the disastrous rains, there was a significant increase in pollutants.
03:43Javier Armengol thinks that in fact the huge masses of flood water may have diluted the pollutants.
03:49This would be better for the Albufera Natural Park, which is known for its rice fields.
03:55But more importantly, the wetland is also home to many bird species.
04:00The lagoon in the center of the park serves as a fishing ground and is popular with visitors.
04:07The wetlands and the lagoon play a key role in extreme weather events like the torrential rains that cause the devastating floods in the region.
04:15This is a zone where flooding is linked to the Mediterranean climate, which has very irregular rainfall.
04:28In autumn, many of the ravines and rivers overflow.
04:32These wetlands help to control and absorb them.
04:39And they recharge the groundwater.
04:46During the floods, the Albufera Lagoon and its wetlands acted as a buffer and protected some of its surroundings.
04:56That's something the Regional Secretary of Environment wants to build on.
05:00Raul Merida wants to see more wetlands in the region.
05:07We are currently working on a project that could protect people.
05:11This project aims to create artificial mini albuferas, meaning floodable parks that can act as sponges.
05:18They act like the riverbed in Valencia City.
05:22Valencia City wasn't affected by the floods. Why?
05:25Because the riverbed allowed all this water to be collected and carried to the sea.
05:30It's a long-term plan that still needs to be approved.
05:35In the meantime, the waste left over from the disaster needs to be dealt with.
05:40One million tons of waste are recycled at this plant.
05:43Car parts, furniture and metals.
05:46And also sand filtered out of the mud.
05:48Its quality is good and it can be used for reconstruction work.
05:51Back at his workshop in Catarroja, Joaquin Raga is skeptical.
05:55He says the regional government's response to the disaster was inadequate.
05:59And extreme weather fueled by human-induced climate change makes him worry about the future.
06:05What's going to happen is that these events will be more frequent.
06:14There will be heavy rains or catastrophes in shorter intervals.
06:18This worries me because of my son, who is still young.
06:25He's 21. We'll see.
06:29Extreme weather has left a deep wound in Spain's Valencia region.
06:37People feel vulnerable, but as they rebuild their lives, they are also showing impressive resilience.