In mid-September, as the first anniversary of the year 2024 approached on the horizon, leaving at least 230 dead, Rosa Álvarez, president of the Asociación Víctimas Mortales de la Dana, strongly lamented. “We did not attempt human reconstruction, we did not attempt families, we did not recognize the victims,” he said in Catarroja, one of the populations most affected by the torrent. Because there are legacies that we do not see, pains that are difficult to quantify, fears that have since haunted all the people who, since the disaster, approach the Poyo ravine every time there are clouds in the sky, worried, anguished, whether they take water or not. To help them and improve support for future victims, the Ministry of Health has just launched a call for tenders, collected this month from the BOE, to monitor the impact of the damage on mental health and measure the prevalence of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress among those affected.
Sanidad therefore plans to invite 23,318 households from 37 municipalities in the most affected areas of the province of Valencia to participate, in which adults live with at least 7,773 minors. The objective is to involve 10,871 people concerned, including 8,153 adults and 2,718 minors. The study will last three years, until 2028, having been valued at 995,668.94 euros, and awarded that same year to the company Ideara.
“It is necessary to know, as an epidemiological indicator, the frequency of certain mental health disorders among people exposed to the flood and to identify the personal and sociodemographic characteristics associated with these disorders,” we argue in the memorandum which justifies the expense. “A survey will be carried out in this population to establish the prevalence of possible depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress and what factors are associated with it.”
A year after the dance hit the Comunidad Valenciana and Castilla-La Mancha, the huellas of its approach continued to be visible. On the walls of Paiporta, Catarroja can also read the paintings of firefighters warning that the garage of a building has been inspected, to see if anyone has been trapped. There are low advertisements with their metal shutters still deformed, twisted, after having been hit repeatedly by coaches, transformed into missiles by the force of the water. In recent months, this corner of a supermarket, this tree, has been a reminder of the people who rose to the occasion to try to save their lives as the river raged with force and noise. Clay remains omnipresent. And also the octopus. The workers. And the machines that work in the Poyo ravine. It is impossible to forget what happened. Thus, in each circle, from group to group of animals, it is possible to listen to what is still being said about the dance. The death toll is still close: on December 2, new people are being analyzed to be considered fatal victims of the disease.
The collection of data with which the impact that this constant tension will have will be measured using a questionnaire. For adults the average duration will be around 40 minutes and for minors it will be 20 minutes. On the second and third oiling, the question duration will be approximately 100%. There will also be physical and telephone contact, as well as a customer service number for participants.
In addition to the initial sample of housing units, the Department of Health will provide the contractor with a secondary sample of alternative housing units which, to the extent possible, will have been selected from the same census section and demographic group as that replaced by the initial sample housing unit. All with the aim of highlighting the hidden legacies left by the torrent while destroying everything that crossed it.
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