Thanks Rosemary - reading between the lines (perhaps wrongly) it seems most aid is provided by private means, rather than by government.

That is the feeling that I get. A couple of weeks ago the school in my town was asking that people donated notebooks etc to give to the schools in the affected area. Our Fallas groups have been collecting bedding and clothes. Obviously as is usual in this sort of case there have been many ways that people could donate money. Amazon have several ways that people can help, donating money, links to a company that will deliver food boxes to any of the depots that have been set up to distribute food. The people have a tendency to jump in work hard to help others so their efforts are very obvious to people outside of the affected area but I presume that the people who are affected actually know what the government is offering and planning, then again maybe they do not.

Rosemary

there are still orgs giving away sandwiches and hot meals here in Alfafar. adult diapers, baby diapers, piles of clothes left along the road for you to go thru, etc... To me it has to stop. Mercadona is open. Charter has been open for weeks.. Bars are open - if they can spend their money in a bar, then they can purchase necessities. Buses are running back and forth to Valencia center....Money is still being paid into bank accounts.. At home care workers are still doing their jobs that they are paid for looking after the old folks.. Medical centers are open... Pharmacies are open..
The biggest problems are the elevators not working for a lot of the older people.... Which will take a while..
I have been thru this in New orleans, texas, florida, France and although I have sympathies - it is time for the population to start getting back to a little bit of day to day life and not living off and expecting handouts......
Most of the clothes that are donated will end up on Ebay or Walopop. You see people from Valencia coming here to get donations and bringing them back...or as tourists just "having a look"...
Gypsies are digging thru the massive amounts of trash piles looking for metal...

The government so far has said a lot but nothing has happened... Monday, almost five weeks; we have an inspector coming to the apartment to say if we can live there and access the damage... Insane.... With no dinero from the government or insurance company during this time to look for a new flat/roof over our heads/ replace the automobile-moto - for us/me it is ok - once the supermarket opened I stopped taking handouts and just got on with the work required to make our apartment livable again with hand tools...
Hopefully the government will learn from this like they did with Katrina...

Would you like your fresh vegetables coming from this field?


Work in progress... Tuesday will be faster with an electric tool...

Where's next on your list...just so I know where not to go...

Was thinking Moncton, NB, CANADA. Know of any houses for sale?

While I do agree with you to some degree, is this not a little judgemental?
Just because shops and bars are open and some can afford to visit them, that doesn't mean everyone is in that position. If a family has lost everything, and they were living on the breadline to start with, they will still be desperate for any help thats offered. , clothes, food, anything to make this new life more bearable to face.
I agree that the ideal is to get everyone self-sufficient again as soon as possible, but those who have lost homes, jobs, and even family members, will need support for some time to come.

I sympathise with you having been though this so often, but that will have made you more resilient than those to whom this is a huge shock, from which some may never recover.

You are so right. What appears to be normal life returning for some is still torture for others. No money going into some peoples bank accounts due to the company that they worked for being ruined. Having supermarkets up and running again is little comfort for those with no money to spend there.

Granted there are always some in society who happily take from others and might take advantage of the current situation, however, the vast majority of the people who are now needing to have a helping hand are not comfortable to be relying on the kindness of strangers because they are proud hard working individuals.

The man that I was speaking to is a prime example of how broken some have become, their pride eroded, their whole life turned upside down.

Rosemary

World Central Kitchen are still active here in Alfafar and are a good non profit to donate to..
I think it is a Spanish chef that started it...
https://wck.org/

That's what is so sad, people who have always been proud and worked to support their families suddenly find themselves at the mercy of the 'powers that be' and dependent on handouts and help from friends. I know from experiences in Queensland that the effects continue for many years. We had whole villages washed away back in 2011, mostly low socio-economic areas, and mostly with no insurance of any kind. Families lived in shipping containers for years as they had no option - their jobs were gone, their homes were gone, all they had was a council-supplied shipping container & some land to put it on. And many of those families had suffered the loss of family members in the floods too.
Heartbreaking.

One family who lost everything in the recent floods had only just started to get their lives back together after losing everything in the massive fire in the apartment block in Valencia. They are having to get their heads around dealing with two horrible events, they are stunned and cannot quite believe that it has happened to them.

Rosemary

Oh heavens, the poor souls. I can't even begin t imagine how you go on from there.

Finally. we get an apartment tomorrow paid for by the state/local government... Until our destroyed apartment is finished and livable... 800 euros a month...
Huge apartment.... Nice street... roof terrace...
Got 45l of free paint today also - will not be used for 3-4 months but happy for it..
Also a mattress and bed frame...

Good for you, hope you can get your place habitable again ASAP. Good luck.