After the floods, Valencia's recovery continues

DW (English)

Six months after the deadly floods, Valencia is still recovering — and looking at ways to improve protection against extreme weather in the future.

Transcript

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.

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