Friday, November 22, 2024

‘I escaped the floods in Spain – I’ve never been so scared in my life’

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A British pensioner was left “absolutely terrified” after she managed to escape a “tsunami of flood water” with seconds to spare after it burst through the ground floor of her home in Valencia.

Torrential rain that began on Monday has devastated parts of Spain leaving over 200 people dead with thousands of troops sent to the worst-affected region of Valencia amid warnings of further rain to come.

Rosie Bowen Jones, was at her home in Capicorb, Valencia on Thursday morning when she heard shouts that prompted her to look outside her kitchen window just in time to see a wall of flood water approaching.

Mrs Bowen Jones grabbed her dog and ran up stairs, waiting several hours for the rescue helicopter to winch her to safety but was forced to leave her dog, Dylan, behind.

Still severely “shaken up” days later, the 76-year-old told i the “roaring” flood water was “terrifying”.

She told i: “I’ve never been so scared in my life. It all happened so incredibly fast.

“I looked up and this tsunami of debris and rocks and planks of wood was coming towards me. I saw it smash through the kitchen windows.

“If our neighbours hadn’t shouted and I hadn’t looked up in time, the mud would have suffocated me. I would not have survived it, I would have been dragged under and drowned.

The entire bottom floor of their house has been left inhabitable (Photo: Provided)

Mrs Bowen Jones watched as her neighbours were picked up by rescue helicopters while her home, which sits in a more secluded area, had not been spotted despite her waving and shouting at response units.

Although she had no power or electricity, she was able to contact her Spanish teacher on her mobile who then informed emergency services of her whereabouts.

Firemen then waded through the mud to shout up at Mrs Bowen Jones and tell her help was coming. A helicopter arrived 15 minutes later, leaving her dog with food and water to last him.

Criticism has been levied at authorities over the speed of the response and the lack of warnings in advance of the flooding.

The alert came too late for many as they were already trapped on roads and left at the mercy of raging torrents of water.

For Mrs Bowen-Jones, the alert came after she had reached the roof of her house and had been stranded for over four hours.

She told i a “much better early warning system is needed” and the death and destruction further a-field in Spain in “absolutely shocking and appalling.”

The river near the Bowen Jones’ home burst its banks and destroyed their hamlet (Photo: Provided)

Mr Bowen Jones was on a flight back from the UK and only found out she had been in danger when he landed in Spain.

On Friday Mr Bowen Jones returned to their home, but it was reachable only by wading through mud which was “thigh high” on the 77-year-old who stands 6″3.

Retrieving Dylan, Mr and Mrs Bowen Jones are now staying at a friends villa, which is on higher ground until further notice.

They are unsure when they will be able to live in their home again as the ground floor is “unlivable”.

Due to the sheer destruction of the floods, thousands more troops were sent to Valencia.

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has ordered 10,000 more troops consisting of police officers and civil guards to flood-hit Valencia to boost search and rescue operations.

It is the largest ever deployment of troops that have been deployed in peacetime in the country to deal with what is already Spain’s worst floodrelated disaster in modern history and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 70s.

The Spanish PM has reported that 4,800 rescues have already been made that “unfortunately, the scope of this disaster means that this is not enough”.

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