The mobile phone, important papers, and a deodorant. That's what Guillermo took with him when the floodwater reached up to his waist and the furniture was floating around in the apartment. He realized it was time to leave, but couldn't open the door due to the water masses that swept through Aldaia, a few miles west of Valencia.
Two neighbors on the street used force, kicked, and finally managed to open the door from the outside. I went out onto the street and then the flood almost swept us three away, he says to El País.
Two of those who died in the town lived in a similar apartment but didn't manage to get out.
Guillermo has been reunited with his partner Sales after many hours of uncertainty when Sales had gone to move the car and couldn't get back.
I went up to my aunt's house and left Guillermo down there, knowing he could be in danger, she says.
It wasn't until early in the morning that she could come home again.
Covid, wars, this storm – the only thing missing is a zombie invasion, says Guillermo.
South of Valencia, Carmen, her sister Beatriz, and their 70-year-old mother managed to get out of their flooded car and hold onto a railing until the water's force subsided. Then they walked half a mile to Valencia, writes El Mundo.
At half past four in the morning, the women arrived at a shelter where they could get help, without knowing when they'll be able to return to their homes in Picassent.
