"I was afraid the river would overwhelm us." When the storm hit the province of Valencia last Tuesday , Alessio Pani was alone in front of his computer in his house in Alzira, just under fifty kilometers from the city. Torrential rain and intermittent blackouts made him think the worst . "The Jucar River crosses the city and was in flood: I was afraid it could flood at any moment," says the young programmer from Terralba, who arrived in Spain in 2018. "We spent terrible hours. Luckily, during the night it stopped raining and it gradually went down . Luckily, at my house there were only a few leaks."
But the alert is not over and Alessio thinks with anguish of his friends in Catarroja and Paiporta, where he lived until last year. "I lived in Catarroja, I still haven't managed to get in touch with my old neighbors from home, I know there are problems with the telephone lines too, I heard that they are still struggling with the high water and the mud at least that was the case until this morning, so I hope they will get in touch in the next few hours to tell me that everything is fine. The damage there is huge, but I feel lucky: I don't dare to imagine what could have happened if I had still been in Catarroja ".
In Valencia there is the Shardana Sardinian club, which has about a hundred members: «We have contacted everyone in the most affected area and they are all fine, including friends and family» , says the president Pierluigi Melis. The club has made itself available to lend a hand via Facebook and WhatsApp.