In view of the serious damage caused by the DANA in the municipalities of the Ribera Alta, the Mancomunitat has activated a comprehensive action plan. The actions cover various areas such as the environment, social services, housing, economic promotion, volunteering and heritage support, with the aim of meeting the needs of the affected municipalities.
Environment and Environmental Education Service
The Mancomunitat’s Environment Department has allocated significant resources to the most affected municipalities:
- Personnel and equipment mobilised by the contractor (Prezero):
- Three teams, with a total of seven operators, have been actively working to remove mud, clean up bulky waste and repair affected areas.
- The use of multilift trucks (8032LPP), trucks with grapples (7879LSS), mixed shovels (E9061BHX and E9470BHN), a water tank (4298LRP), vans (6591MBK and 6391MBK) and a mini loader (E0366BGX) has been essential.
- Key areas of intervention:
- Catadau, Llombai, Algemesí and l’Alcúdia have been the main focus of intervention, with continued support in Algemesí and l’Alcúdia until 8 November.
Social Services
The Social Services department has coordinated actions to address the urgent needs arising from the DANA:
- Monitoring of dependent persons: In Montserrat, specific monitoring was carried out on persons with degrees II and III of dependency, ensuring that they were not left isolated.
- Distribution of basic aid: Basic resources, such as food and other essential goods, were provided, especially in Algemesí, Guadassuar and other affected municipalities.
Voluntary professional participation of APB social services staff from the Mancomunitat Ribera Alta to the Ajuntament d’Algemesí:
- Number of people: 17
- Days: Saturday 2, Sunday 3 and Saturday 9 November 2024
- Functions: Provision of social services to citizens (door-to-door, case detection, case supervision, etc.)
Equality and Coexistence Agency
The Equality and Coexistence Agency has carried out the following actions:
- Advising interested parties.
Sharing information of interest to affected citizens.
Coordinating with social services to offer our professional support.
Other volunteer work by the team’s technicians.
Regional Housing Office
The Regional Housing Office offered specific support to people who lost their homes:
- Financial aid: Dissemination of information on regional aid of up to €6,000, managed through the Generalitat’s website.
- Rehousing programmes: Collaboration with EVHA to guarantee temporary housing for those affected.
Interventions generated from requests from different areas:
Algemesí: 194
Alzira: 7
Benicull: 1
Carlet: 1
Catadau: 1
Guadassuar: 26
L’Alcúdia: 81
La Garrofera Alzira: 1
Llombai: 1
Montserrat: 1
La Pobla Llarga: 1
Undetermined (telephone information): 35
Total: 350 people
Youth Service
Coordination for the detection of needs
A coordination system has been established between the Youth and Joint Social Services departments and the municipal Social Services primary care teams to identify unmet needs in the most affected municipalities, such as Algemesí, l’Alcúdia and Guadassuar.
Creation of a Youth Volunteer Pool
An initiative was launched to mobilise young people aged 16 and over to respond to local emergencies, with almost 300 young people registered.
- Care of minors.
A total of 10 young people, 5 TASOC students and 5 TIS students, have been providing services at the two minor care facilities during the weeks of 4 to 15 November.
- On the first floor of the cooperative building. With the collaboration of the Nido de Semillas de La Safor association (coordinating) and the Caixa Rural Foundation, which provided the space. Care for between 60 and 100 children daily.
- At C/ Pelaio, 39 ‘PintArte’. Coordinated and provided by the company itself. Serves between 60 and 100 children daily.
- Door-to-door food distribution.
- Detection of emerging needs.
- Emotional support: Recommendations for offering emotional support to those most affected. Informative capsules have also been published, which have been reproduced 7,910 times.
- Online training, in collaboration with the IVAJ, on emotional support for young people in emergency situations, aimed at youth professionals in the Valencian Community. More than 60 youth professionals have benefited.
- Creation of therapeutic groups for young people providing emotional support and accompaniment. To date, this has been implemented in Guadassuar with the participation of 12 young people, and it is planned to be carried out during the rest of December and January in Algemesí, Alginet, L’Alcúdia, Carlet and El Marquesat (Benifaió to be confirmed).
COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE MANCOMUNITAT DE LA RIBERA ALTA AND THE CONSORCI DE LA RIBERA
‘Caña a la caña’ project
The brigades of the Caña a la caña project, comprising 20 people, in coordination with local councils, have carried out important aid and support work in the municipalities affected by the DANA. These actions focused particularly on cleaning, emptying flooded areas and distributing food, with a notable deployment in municipalities such as l’Alcúdia and Algemesí.
Between 1 and 2 November, two foremen and two labourers travelled to l’Alcúdia to carry out various tasks, including:
- Cleaning mud from the streets.
- Draining garages with motor pumps.
- Distributing food to affected residents.
During the week of 4 to 8 November, activities intensified with the participation of four brigades, which were divided between l’Alcúdia and Algemesí. The actions carried out included:
- In l’Alcúdia: removing mud and damaged furniture and objects.
- In Algemesí: emptying garages with motor pumps, removing mud with buckets and helping to remove debris from affected ground floors.
Subsequently, 10 people continued throughout November and the other 10 went to work on the Caña a la caña project.
Economic Promotion Area
The Ribera Impulsa programme directed its efforts towards supporting affected self-employed workers and businesses:
- Processing of aid.
- Support for the digitisation and recovery of commercial activity.
- Administrative support for the task of managing aid intended for citizens to alleviate the damage caused by the DANA.
- Dissemination of solidarity campaigns such as ‘Sponsor a business’.
On 25 November, a service was launched in the town councils that requested it. The Ribera Impulsa team provides a service to process aid for those affected by the DANA (companies and self-employed workers).
We are currently processing aid for the productive sector in the municipalities (agricultural aid, aid for the self-employed and aid for SMEs).
The municipalities where we are providing the service are: Albalat de la Ribera, Algemesí, Benimodo, Fortaleny, Rafelguaraf and Guadassuar. These figures change daily.
Interventions carried out:
- Albalat de la Ribera: 20 cases in the agricultural sector
- Algemesí: 3 cases in the commercial sector
- Benimodo: 6 cases in the agricultural sector
- Fortaleny: 23 cases in the agricultural sector
- Guadassuar: 3 cases in the commercial sector
- Rafelguaraf: 4 cases in the agricultural sector
Municipal Consumer Information Office (OMIC)
The OMIC has implemented services to manage claims related to damage caused by the DANA. Those affected can contact them at omic@manra.org. This office, like the rest of the OMIC, has received permission from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to process requests for information and claims submitted by people affected by the DANA, regardless of where they live, in matters of consumer affairs.
Inter-institutional collaboration
Joint work with the Consorci de la Ribera and other administrations has made it possible to:
- Reinforce the medical transport service to the Hospital de la Ribera with the use of a 9-seater vehicle belonging to the Mancomunitat.
- Prepare technical reports to access subsidies from the Provincial Council of Valencia for municipal disinfection for the municipalities of:
- L’Alcúdia
- Algemesí
- Corbera
- Fortaleny
- Llombai
- Polinyà de Xúquer
- Riola
- Benicull de Xúquer
