DIY is essential!
The recent EDRA Dinner heard a moving testimony from Alejandro Roda Alarcón, our member from the ADFB. Asociación de Distribuidores de Ferretería y Bricolaje, on the terrible floods that hit his region recently. We don’t think we should change Alejandro’s words, so here they are in full:
“In Valencia, we suffered two major tragedies as a result of the flooding: 1. In the affected areas, there was no rain, but heavy rainfall occurred in the mountains inland. Neither political leaders nor emergency services warned the population about the approaching flood. Mobile phones started blaring emergency alerts only after everything was already flooded, and television stations were broadcasting the images. 2. Political disputes between the national and regional governments delayed aid for several days, sparking public outrage.
Some of you may have seen footage of authorities and even the king being booed during their visits. According to the president of the insurance association, this was "the most significant disaster caused by a climate event" ever recorded in Spain.
SOME NUMBERS:
• 230 fatalities and 2 persons still missing
• 845,371 residents in these municipalities
• 25,000 hectares flooded, equivalent to 50,000 football fields.
• Rainfall reached 200 liters per square meter
• River, and the Magro River’s flow increased 87 times its usual level.
• 37,000 people rescued from vehicles, homes, and streets due to rising waters. • 600,000 people lost access to potable water, 150,000 users experienced power outages.
• Around 30,000 buildings potentially damaged, with 2,000 homes declared uninhabitable.
• 66,088 businesses affected.
• The disaster affected 32% of Valencia province’s GDP and 24.7% of its employment.
• 54,312 hectares of farmland affected.
• 57 healthcare centers damaged.
• 115 schools affected.
How did the DIY sector respond?
• The manufacturers' association, Asociación de Fabricantes de Bricolaje y Ferretería AFEB, gathered donations from its members, including cleaning products, shovels & buckets. I personally organized a logistics warehouse and distributed these items through NGOs.
• A major cooperative of hardware stores in the region received hundreds of product donations from suppliers. These were given to the affected store owners, allowing them to sell the items and reduce their losses.
• The sector’s foundation, Txema Elorza, has also received monetary donations from many stores and suppliers, which will soon be distributed to the affected hardware store owners.
• Some manufacturers (like Karcher and Black & Decker) donated products directly to NGOs, such as the Red Cross.
I think we’ve missed another chance to have our sector recognized as essential. Even the DIY stores near the affected area weren’t allowed to open outside their regular hours, despite the urgent need. We need to change that for good as unfortunately disasters like this are becoming more common."
