The terrible flooding in Valencia have
torn communities and
livelihoods apart, as the Spanish authorities try to get on top of the
situation. Many people have lost family members, their homes, and their
livelihoods due to storm Dana, creating a national tragedy.
The events in Valencia have relevance to the cycling world,
as the 2025 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana may have to be cancelled. Race
director Angel Casero told the local news station
EFE, “One meter and sixty
centimeters of water entered and everything that was on the shelves and in the
boxes was destroyed.
“The only thing that was saved were the signal arrows, which
is the highest thing we had stored. We are cleaning and throwing everything
away and, once we have finished, we will quantify the losses.”
We had planned to do the presentation in December and we
will not be able to do it,” Casero admitted. “We will have to wait until the
end of November to see what the situation is in the cities, what the subsidies
will be like for next year and to see what happens.”
But there’s more to do for the organisers than simply
cleaning and analysing the damages. “It is clear that now the only option we
have is to leave everything more or less clean, organised, and in good
condition. After that, we will see what material we have left, we will make an
economic assessment, we will consult on the insurance issue and we will see if
we will have time to do what needs to be redone,” Casero outlined.
“In addition to the Valencians, people from abroad have also
helped a lot, there were so many cars piled up in the streets, which
complicated everything.” Despite their losses, the organizers have given back
in whatever way they could. “We managed to save little, but at least some of
the shirts that we washed were donated to raise some money to help people in
difficulty,”