Neighbors affected by Adam: "People were asleep and water was coming through the windows"

José Domingo Peiró remains confined this Monday morning with his wife and daughter on the third floor of a building in Playa Partida, Oliva. And from the window, in addition to the fact that it is starting to rain again, you can see how the Army and the Civil Guard are rescuing, in helicopters, boats and trucks, the neighbors whose houses have been flooded by the episode of strong winds and torrential rains from DANA Adam that surprised them at dawn.

"We knew it was going to rain, we had put up rakes and parapets, but nothing protects you from what rained. The worst was at dawn, people were asleep and the water was coming in through the windows."

The night has been long in the lower part of the municipality of Oliva, where Peiró lives. He says that around one in the morning "the people on the ground floors started screaming, they didn't expect to get up and see the house full of water." Peiró did not hesitate to put on his wetsuit and go down to help the neighbors. By then the water was up to his chest. "The neighborhood is almost all chalets, with the good weather until today there were many people living here, but the avalanche has been enormous," he explains.

In front of his house, Peiró has his business, the La botigueta supermarket, which he has not been able to enter yet, but he already knows that the damage is incalculable: "I see all the goods floating from here." During this time he has been able to photograph rescues in UME trucks, helicopters and even boats from his home. "We are on the third floor and we can't leave the house." But you already know that in your area, the damage is mainly material. "Cars have been lost and homes, businesses, appliances destroyed..." he explains while it starts to rain again through the window.

Indeed, a special helicopter device from different administrations (Military Emergency Unit, Civil Guard, Provincial Consortiums, Maritime Rescue, Generalitat or forest firefighters) carried out "hundreds" of rescues for people trapped by water on Monday morning in the towns affected by DANA Adam, mainly in Safor and Marina Alta, such as Oliva.

A few kilometers from Oliva, in the town of Denia, the owner of the Hero restaurant, Juanito 'El Andaluz', explains by phone that although there they are very accustomed to the cold drop of autumn, the neighbors had not seen an episode like the one experienced this morning. "We looked out and saw how it was raining, but also the wind went two minutes one way and two minutes the other. It was all very strange." In his case, he explains that this storm and the overflowing of the Girona River at its mouth have destroyed the awnings, the solar panels and part of the restaurant's roof. In addition, the water has flooded the kitchen and dining rooms. He has also lost his vehicle, swept away by water.

"We have been very, very afraid, we have four children. We are all fine, but we have seen the GEAS boats of the Civil Guard (the underwater unit) rescuing the neighbors in the town."

Juanito has called his insurance, and they have told him not to touch anything in the restaurant, to wait for the water to drain, something very complicated because the flood exceeds sea level and the sea is especially virulent this morning, so while he observes the destruction from a car, accompanied by the Police, he says resignedly: "We can't do anything except protect ourselves and wait for the water to go down and the experts to come in."