Anger at response to Spain floods grows – as man who held on to post in rushing water relives ordeal
Survivors of the devastating Spanish floods have told Sky News they feel lucky to be alive.
But they are angry they have not been given more support by the government, emergency services or the military.
They say they feel forgotten and have been left without power, food or water, despite living within a short drive of one of the biggest cities in Spain.
Instead, we have seen thousands of volunteers helping to clear up some of the towns that were devastated, while others have been left to rely on their own residents to deal with the extraordinary devastation.
Follow latest: Number of people killed rises to at least 205
“Tell the world that we have nothing,” says one man as we talk in the town of Albal. There are growing calls for a nationwide protest against what is seen as the slow response of authorities.
But there are also mesmerising stories of survival. In Catarroja, we meet Arkait Iniguez, who returned from his high school in Valencia because of a warning of bad weather.
“At first I was in the water up to my knee,” he says. He wanted to check on his grandmother, who lived nearby, but by the time he had reached her house, the water was rushing so fast it swept him away.
“The stream was so fast and the level rose. I grabbed the post of a traffic sign so I wouldn’t get taken away. Some neighbours tried to help me – they threw me a rope, but it broke.
“I was there for 20 minutes. Something hit me – I think it was a car, but I can’t be sure. And then the stream got less strong and I could jump on to a car.”
Mr Iniguez was there for hours until he could wade through the water to get to safety.
It is a terrifying story, and the deep cuts on his back are testimony to what happened.
He said: “I thought I might die but I also thought to myself ‘this is not how it should end’.”
As we talk, the road is being washed down by the residents, who have worked relentlessly since the morning. “It is the best road in the town,” says one man. Civic pride, it seems, can survive anything.
Across this region, we saw thousands upon thousands of people volunteering to help get these towns back towards some kind of functionality. We saw huge, snaking lines of people, holding brooms and brushes, an army of helpers.
What we didn’t see was much sign of the actual army.
Walking through the town of Aldaia, which was swamped with mud and debris, there was frenetic and determined work going on. But all of it from volunteers – many of them young people in their late teens or early 20s.
Nor did we see much of the emergency services.
No doubt they are stretched – and nobody can be fully prepared for a disaster on this level, but the fact is, when you travel around these beleaguered, battered towns, the impression you get is that all the work is being done by amateurs, while the professionals are largely absent.
Rebuilding will be a colossal job. The physical scars of these floods will last for many years, and so will the emotional ones.
We first see Father Francisco when he is comforting people in the street. His shirt is splattered with mud.
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No, he says, this disaster has not shaken his faith, but it has shaken his emotions. He is close to tears as we talk – exhausted, like his parishioners.
“I would say the main word is shock. We are in shock and you can see the reality has surpassed fiction. This is a horror film, but even more than that.
“This natural catastrophe is worse than a horror movie.”