Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:56pm
Thx Ray, I did wonder about you, Jim and others who I know live in the campo. Good to hear you got back so quickly, as I'd heard that one side of Catral, in particular, was very badly hit, as were several friends of mine in Dolores.
San Fulgencio and Daya Vieja, only minutes from us, have been devastated - one of the reasons it took so long to reduce the water around us was because, as fast as our Ayuntamiento team were pumping the water away, we were getting back flow from San Fulgencio. How very sad to hear of the Dutch man who lost his life there.
We were also shocked by the many mudslides that had engulfed homes which we encountered around Orihuela on Friday 13th(!). We were trying to get my Dad and his wife to Murcia airport, but had lost our internet at home and didn't discover until we were on the A7 that all flights had been cancelled. We came off at the Santomera junction and tried to get to Jacarilla, but eventually had to retrace our steps and rejoin the motorway. We crawled for miles, watching repeated attempts by rescue helicopters to winch people around Albatera to safety. It took us almost 4 hours to do a 30 minute journey. We couldn't have imagined that there was worse to come on Saturday.
I don't have the words to praise enough our Ayuntamiento team, the Policia Local, UME and the Bomberos for how hard they have worked, taking breaks only to sleep. Also, our local farmers who, despite losing their entire crops, pitched in with tractors to dig channels to divert water.
Our losses are a drop in the ocean (no pun intended) to the many others whose houses are no longer standing.
Eddie's fast asleep in his basket - the last 10 days have been confusing for him and I think he must be as happy as we are to be back home. We're enormously grateful to have a home to come back to.
Kxx