Floods in Spain. 51 dead.

I was impressed by all the volunteers turning up to help as well Jennifer Eccles less so by the authorities who seemed to be making no effort to organise them and make the best use of their help.

The only heartening thing to come out of this tragedy is the huge generosity of the thousands of volunteers who have turned up to help.

Overwhelmed by grief just where to start clearing debris and bodies? Poor people. Beyond tragic.

I have been rewatching Monty Don's Spanish Gardens series. And in one episode he visits Valencia. Such a beautiful city.
However they had such serious flooding in the past they diverted the river! And the "redundant" river bed through the city was converted into a long park. The plan had been to convert it into a road leading to the airport, but the public disagreed and the park for all to use was developed. And very lovely it looked with shady trees.
It was so sad to think that is probably under a layer of mud now.

At last the Prime Minister says he will send 10,000 troops to help the beleaguered people of the area.

Hundreds of volunteers have been helping and doing their best to clear up the devastation.
One woman has been found alive after being trapped in her car for three days.

What did take so long for the authorities to act?

Not to mention (so I’ve read) that the ground was baked so hard by summer heat that it almost might as well be concrete, so none of the water could soak in.

HelterSkelter1

And stop building on flood plains and concreting over green areas. We must take active measurements to slow river flow, clean our existing drains and build more storm drains and defences. As well as all the climate change sustainability measures.

Be prepared for what is going to happen.

👍

Pablo Aznar, a researcher at the Socio-Economic Observatory of Floods and Droughts (Obsis), warned that much of the area affected had undergone what he described as “untrammelled development”, with many areas covered in impermeable materials, which “increases the danger posed by these events”.

I think that a huge flood drain through the centre of one town (was it Valencia itself?) was completely overwhelmed and the side wall just washed away, such was the force of the water.

We are in Spain at the moment and were driving north from Cadiz on the day of the storm. It was torrential rain almost all day and the roads were awash.We could see the flooded fields and gullies alongside the road were in full flood. The Spanish TV stations were full of pictures of the devastation and sadly the death toll continues to rise

Devastating news continues with the death toll still rising. Now the army and police forces are being criticised for not being very pro active. Those poor people. We had a villa an hour south of Valencia and have experienced being in the eye of a Gota Fria. Wind and rain like you wouldn't believe, battering our villa. I have never been so scared in my life. I have every sympathy with the people affected by this disaster.

And stop building on flood plains and concreting over green areas. We must take active measurements to slow river flow, clean our existing drains and build more storm drains and defences. As well as all the climate change sustainability measures.

Be prepared for what is going to happen.

No you don’t have to stop all those things - you have to stop the use of fossil fuels - we have the technology to be more sustainable and cleaner.we just have to commit to it

Yes we must stop flying aeroplanes, driving cars, using fridges, washing machines, dishwashers ….

BBBC is showing dreadful scenes.

"I guess the "North Atlantic Drift" means = "Gulf Stream"??

The North Atlantic Drift is just a part of the Gulf Stream, ie the part in the North Atlantic that heads towards Europe.

Many people in the region are angry at the slow response to the catastrophe that was coming. People were getting alerts long after the water was rising.
It is a known phenomenon in the area caused by warm air from the med hitting the cols air.
One gentleman received an alert when he was up to his neck in water ( in his car)

Which county or area are you in MilestOne?

It is interesting to watch what the local River Trust is doing in our area. They are installing weeping dams to slow down water flow from the hills and planting small groups of trees which also stops run off. The bed of the stream running past my house has dropped about 3 feet in the 40 years we have lived here so it is good to see something is being done here to reduce flooding.

“Fur babies”? Gah.

The news pictures are almost unbelievable. GlobalGiving have started a donation request, but that's not a charity I am familiar with. I hope the Red Cross open a site soon.

It's awful isn't it? It seems Mother Nature is fighting back. A good friend's family live in the affected area and there's nothing he can do but watch the news.

Whitewavemark2

Goodness knows what is going to happen. My son was talking about the North Atlantic Drift.

It is known that because of climate change it has been slowing but there is evidence that it is stopping. What on earth that means for the UKs temperate climate goodness only knows.

I guess the "North Atlantic Drift" means = "Gulf Stream"??

I came across an article in the last few days and just got the general drift of it being lots of scientific type people were saying they reckoned Britain's "Gulf Stream" (which is a necessity to keep "our" climate as per normal) has a high chance of stopping next year. Cue for sitting there horrified wondering if they were right and also right about what our weather would be like (ie unmanageable) without it. One horrified flip of the page and thinking "I'm in my early 70's - I don't really want to read that the chances of me going on into my 80's - or even late 70's - have just totally gone...as I wouldnt even try to live in that sort of weather personally".

Very mixed feelings about "If our climate flipped like that". Other than "Up with that I would not put" personally.

How terrible this is - hard to imagine, although we have had severe flooding here too in the past years, Somerset Levels and other areas across the country. I am so grateful for our soft and gentle climate, which rarely bites us in this way. Long may it last...but that is perhaps overly optimistic in view of the behaviour of humans.

There is an exceptional article on The BBC which covers the latest reporting from Valencia for those interested.

Approx. 100 people had died.

The numerous canine / feline rescues have been in the process of fostering and rehoming the poor furbabies to better locations and numerous people are donating vans, food, blankets, bottles of water, towels etcetra.

The shelters as well are being funded for clothing, diapers (Pampers), bedding, food etcetra.

Many women in The Valencia region are of British nationality and are a close knit group providing funding and working together to save the animals and also to assist with accomodation and funds to cover the enormous expenses to help those who have lost their homes, cars and also loved ones.

It is quite a horror story over there.

The local Spanish Television News Networks have done a fine job updating 24 hours ALERT Phone numbers and websites and Police assistance online and via telephone.

We haven't been to Nerja for quite a few years but remember seeing what looked like a dry river bed through the outskirts of the town. I am sure I remember boulders in it which must have been brought down from the mountains in a torrent of water. We couldn't imagine then what it must be like, but having seen Boscastle and now Valencia and Italy last month we can imagine how terrifying and destructive it must be.

It always surprises me that people on holiday in Spain and the Spanish islands don’t seem to realise that when it rains there, it really DOES rain. Most towns and villages have huge storm drains which look like empty canals most of the time but fill up rapidly when the rain comes and look like raging torrents.