The scenes playing out in Paiporta on Sunday laid bare the mounting sense of abandonment among the devastated areas and the lingering anger over why an alert urging residents not to leave home on Tuesday was sent after the floods began surging, The Guardian reported.
The official visit came as the death toll climbed to 214 and mayors from the affected municipalities pleaded with officials to send help.
“We’re very angry and we’re devastated,” said Guillermo Luján, the mayor of Aldaia. “We have a town in ruins. We need to start over and I’m begging for help. Please help us.”
The town’s 33,000 residents were among many in the region grappling with the aftermath of the ferocious floods that rank as the deadliest in Spain’s modern history. At least 214 people have been killed, almost all of them in the region of Valencia, while the number of missing remains unknown.
Luján said his town was in desperate need of heavy machinery to clear out the vehicles and debris piled up along the streets, the report added.
MA/PR