A Donegal man on the front lines of Valencia’s flood recovery says he was stunned by the sheer scale of the devastation.
Caoimhin MacLochlainn from Manorcunningham has been living and working in the city of Valencia for some time. While the city centre where he lives is unaffected, he says the area 10km outside is “like a warzone”.
Caoimhin is part of a dedicated group of 10 walking daily to impacted areas to offer hands-on assistance to those whose homes and lives have been ruined in the disaster.
More than 200 people have died in the flooding and at least 89 more people are still missing a week on.
“Words don’t do justice to the scale,” Caoimhin told Donegal Daily.
“It’s like an area the size of Swords covered in 10ft of water.
“It’s dried out now but there is all the muck and rubble and tens of thousands of cars left behind.”
Volunteers in Catarroja. Photo: Caoimhin MacLochlainn
The clean-up effort in Catarroja
Shovels in hand, Caoimhin and his fellow volunteers trek to the ravaged Catarroja area bringing essentials like cleaning products, batteries and PPE to victims.
Yesterday they spent time with a local resident, clearing out furniture and scrubbing muck from their apartment floor.
“The owner of the apartment could not stop thanking us for the difference we made, he and the other tenants are sleeping right above the ruined ground floor, like many other of Catarrojan locals with only strangers like ourselves coming to help,” he said.
“After this our group along with 1000s of other volunteers made a 10km trip back home again, the scale of the damage is actually so hard to imagine, despite this we were all carrying a smile knowing that we were able to make a difference.”
The clean-up in one local person’s home. Photo: Caoimhin MacLochlainn
Caoimhin, the son of Donal Mor Mac Lochlainn and Bernie Mac Lochlainn, has worked remotely for a scientific publisher while basing himself in Valencia for the past two years. For now, his focus has shifted towards aiding the recovery effort.
The volunteer group is urging friends and followers to donate what they can to support charities providing housing, medical, and emergency relief efforts. Donations will go towards the Red Cross, and local groups.
You can visit Caoimhin’s GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mryru-valencia-flood-relief