Lessons to Learn from Tragedy: Valencia
In today’s Camino a Ítaca memories of a parachute flapping up and down above the bar as I easily peeled the labels off sodden beer bottles in the Florida damp heat. The end of the world was on its way and it was too late to get out. The Green Parrot seemed as good a place as any to meet the storm surge. Lessons could have and should have been learned and put into place in the recent tragedy in and around Valencia, Spain. Neoliberal climate change deniers in power instead held firm in their suicidal disbelief and hundreds died as a result. Click over to read the terrible tale in Spanish in the HOY or read the English translation below. (PDF en castellano abajo)
I sat waiting for the end of the world on a barstool some 200kms out in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. There, whirling around on the screen above the bar rode the four horsemen, in hurricane form, barreling down on my little island less than a meter above sea level at the tail end of the Florida Keys. After days of heading elsewhere, the storm had made a capricious, last minute turn and was now coming straight for us. As there was no time to leave, no evacuation order could be given. The only thing left to do was sit and wait.
The thing is, this was Florida and the locals had been down this road many, many times before. Everyone had done what they could do in preparation. The bathtubs were filled with water and they had enough bottled water, canned provisions and batteries for that antique machine called a radio that would last them several days.
Once everything that could be done had been done, that only thing you could do was watch. Some spent the time praying while others, like myself, ran up exorbitant bar tabs thinking they might never have to be paid. It was completely possible that the bar would be found floating somewhere off of Miami in the coming days.
Everyone had been warned and information from every level of the administration had been given. It was now the people’s choice whether to follow it or not. Those who chose not to heed the warnings were prime candidates for the Darwin awards, but that was their choice.
The thing is, they were given that choice.
The current drama taking place in Valencia is catastrophic. Mother Nature has once again made it abundantly clear that she is changing and is not happy about it. Local wisdom that once may have served to keep people safe no longer holds true for a warming sea. Entirely new models need to be imagined and fresh protocols need to be put in place to confront this new reality. Things like the gota fria aren’t those of our grandparents anymore.
The deadly challenge is that there are some who for economic, political and/or religious reasons refuse to accept this new normal. In Valencia, the AEMET had been issuing warnings for days prior, but the regional government chose to ignore them until it was too late. This cost many lives.
This disaster has shown that the right and far right will choose their own interests above those they govern. Not only that, but they will also then blatantly lie and try cover their tracks with fake news, even if there is a written record that it is not true.
This is why knowledge and information has become essential. In the face of so much misinformation, non-partisan efforts need to be made to educate people how to stay safe and survive the aftermath. Just as those do in places like Florida.
As for the hurricane, it once again took a capricious turn and all we were left with was a serious hangover, an outrageous bar tab and knowledge of what to do next time. Because there will be a next time.
