The first buses with volunteers who were waiting by the thousands in the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia to leave to help with cleaning tasks in areas affected by the dana have already begun to leave.
In a huge line, thousands of people patiently waited for the organization, led by the Valencian government, to tell them which bus to board and which destination to go to.
Equipped with shovels, brushes, buckets and liters of water, they have formed the line to leave for towns such as Sedaví, Alfafar or Catarroja.
Ana Pascual is one of them, she has been there since seven in the morning with her partner. It is the first day she is going to help and hopes that today, already guided by the Generalitat, it will be more operative.
"There are many of us and it is better for them to organize us," she told EFE while queuing.
For Pascual it is "better" this way and although she still does not know where she will go or when she will return to Valencia, she is confident that her help will serve her neighbors.
The president of the Volunteer Platform of the Valencian Community, Miguel Salvador, has informed EFE that to the 50 buses initially planned, another 50 will be added and that they estimate that "5,000 people will leave from here."
In the City of Arts and Sciences there are about 10,000 people waiting to be able to join as a volunteer to clean and not all of them will fit in the buses.
He explained that it is planned that those who have left now will return at 2:00 p.m. "and the people who have been able to go today, will be able to go from two o'clock onwards."
They are distributing masks and gloves to the volunteers who are leaving and it is planned that they will go to three areas of L'Horta Sud and the municipalities of La Ribera Llombai and Catadau and have ruled out going to some others because "you can't get to everything."
At least 205 people have died as a result of the floods
The vast majority of the victims, 202, were registered in the Valencia region. There were also 2 deaths reported in Castilla-La Mancha and 1 in Andalusia. There is an undetermined number of people who remain missing.
The authorities continue with the search and rescue efforts, fearing that many missing people may be trapped in destroyed vehicles or flooded garages.
Material damage
The intense rains caused by the DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels) have left a trail of destruction in several areas of the Spanish Levant, with Valencia as one of the most affected areas. In a few hours, numerous towns were flooded, with homes, streets and businesses under water, and emergency services working tirelessly to evacuate residents in danger. The force of the DANA has collapsed infrastructures and caused supply cuts in large areas. Faced with this catastrophe, the response of solidarity has been immediate, mobilizing citizens and organizations from all over Spain to provide help and support to those who need it most.
