12 days ago the flood caused by the Dana reached 530 square kilometers around Valencia, an area that multiplies the Albufera lagoon by 21. It is almost 5% of the entire province. On October 31, at least 156 square kilometers remained under water, according to the estimate of the EU Copernicus satellite mapping system. The map shows the trace left by the water.
In the autonomous community as a whole, 75 municipalities have been affected, according to Moncloa (two more in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia). The worst of the flood hit the towns south of Valencia, with the catastrophe.
Almost 20 square kilometers of buildings affected
The push of the water caused damage to a built surface of at least 20 square kilometers, 7% of the surface analyzed by Copernicus. This system uses very high-resolution images to estimate damage, but it is not completely exhaustive. It does not capture, for example, streets that have been filled with remains of the flood or are full of mud but where there is no visible damage to the buildings. That is why their data serve as a first estimate of urgency and it is likely that the figures for the extent of the flood are even greater.
The map shows how far the satellite estimates the water reached in the L’Horta Sud region, one of the most damaged, with .
A review of 641 buildings by volunteer civil protection technicians in Alfafar identified ten buildings that need work to be reoccupied and ten that have been totally or partially destroyed.
The damage detected by Copernicus includes homes, but also other buildings, such as educational centers. The regional administration states that the cost of repairing school infrastructure, installing temporary classrooms, equipment, transportation, dining room or electrical checks could amount to 1,135 million euros.
Industries devastated
Almost half of the areas where Copernicus has detected damage caused by the flood were headquarters of commercial activities, either with offices or industrial warehouses. Catarroja, Paiporta, Sedaví or Albal have recorded damage in industrial estates such as La Mina, L’Estacio, El Bony or La Pascualeta. The thirteen municipalities most affected by the flood include the entire province, according to data from the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE).
On the other hand, in the agricultural sector, damage has been recorded to both infrastructure and crops pending harvest. The Valencian Farmers Association estimates that losses could amount to 1,089 million euros.
The impact on the economy can also be seen from other angles. In the most damaged municipalities, in-person card payments have fallen between 80% and 100%, according to BBVA Research.
Dozens of roads remain closed
Mobility in the area has been affected by road closures at all levels. After the passage of the Dana, traffic was interrupted on more than a hundred roads. Twelve days later, just over 30 remain affected – most of them secondary – according to data from the DGT. Among them is the A-7, with cuts in both directions, on the road that connects it with Alicante and between Quart de Poblet and Torrent.
On November 31, the Copernicus mapping system identified more than 1,500 kilometers of affected roads. The latest report, prepared with satellite images from this Friday, maintains 176 kilometers of road in this state.
In addition to the damage to the road surface and to infrastructure such as bridges or tunnels, the removal of 2,487 cars and trucks has been necessary.
The railway network did not escape the flood either, the Cercanías lines that link Valencia Nord with Gandía (C1), Moixent (C2) and Utiel (C3) remain closed. Although cleanup work is already underway, it could take months for it to be fully restored. Some Cercanías stations in the region, such as Alfafar-Benetusser, Algemesí or Catarroja, are among the most frequented in the province, according to Renfe.
223 fatalities
The death toll in the Valencian Community now stands at 215, with 78 people still missing and 48 bodies still unidentified. Seven more people have died in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Malaga.
There are no updated figures on the location of the fatalities, but as of November 2, 90% of the victims were located south of the Valencian capital. At least a third of those who died in the autonomous community were in Paiporta.
The compensation requests registered by the Insurance Consortium – almost 140,000 to date – give an idea of the extent of the material damage: 43,608 correspond to homes, 83,437 to vehicles and 8,137 to businesses and warehouses. According to estimates by this entity, the total damages could amount to 3.5 billion euros.
