Having grown up in Whistler, 25-year-old Arnica Wight knows first-hand what a tight-knit community looks like. So, when she landed in Valencia City this September, she couldn’t help but see the similarities between her native Whistler and the coastal Spanish city.
“Even though Valencia is a big city, it has this strong community feel, and I know that Whistler is similar in that sense,” said Wight. “From the first step I took outside the train station when I got here, I felt right at home.”
Wight said locals have welcomed her with open arms since arriving for her year abroad, drawn by the language and, ironically, the mild weather. Just a few short weeks into her stay, the region was rocked by catastrophic flash floods that have, at press time, claimed the lives of more than 200 people and left many communities in southeastern Spain without power, water and aid.
Living in the centre of Valencia City, Wight and other residents were spared the kind of devastation the surrounding areas have endured, thanks in part to a rerouting of the city’s main river, The Turia, after deadly floods in 1957.
“Some of those towns directly south of us, I haven’t been yet, but just seeing photos from not only the news but friends who spent time volunteering there over the weekend, it was just insane,” Wight said. “You can’t really understand the effect of the damage unless you see it with your own eyes: bridges broken and washed away, whole buildings taken down, piles and piles of cars, debris. And with that, of course, come people swept up in the debris.
“It's hard to grasp being so safe where we are.”
(It’s worth noting Valencia City is the capital of the hard-hit Valencia province, which contributed to Wight’s loved ones’ worries and confusion in the immediate aftermath of the floods.)
Seeing the harrowing footage on the news, as well as hearing from friends and fellow Valencians who have been impacted by one of Spain’s worst natural disasters in generations, Wight and her roommate, Fanny Larsson, got to work. They have organized a GoFundMe campaign to raise much-needed money for essential items such as clothing, food, and bedding that will be donated to a local café-turned-distrubution-centre. Wight and Larsson are also visiting towns around Valencia City to help with debris clean-up.
With a modest starting goal of €1,000, Wight and Larsson reached nearly half of their target within hours of launching the campaign.
“It’s incredible so many people have contributed to this fund and it’s definitely motivating Franny and I to be creative in how to disperse it,” said Wight, adding they are working with local organizations to best understand how to distribute the aid.
Already moved by the community spirit she felt before last week’s floods, Wight has seen it on full display in the days since, when hundreds of residents eager to help packed buses to the surrounding towns.
“Right away there was no hesitation from anybody in the community to jump forward and support, to get in there, get their hands dirty and start helping,” she explained.
That civic support has had to fill in gaps left by local authorities that have been heavily criticized by Spaniards for their lack of response. On Monday, Nov. 4, the Spanish government sent 10,000 troops, police and civil guards to the region, the largest peacetime deployment in the country’s history.
Wight said she and her roommate are happy to help a community they know would do the same if the roles were reversed.
“We just feel like we’re part of this community and if we’re living here for this year … why wouldn’t we contribute when something like this happens?” she said. “It could have been us or it could have been our families, if this happened somewhere local to us. We would ask for it from other people if the situation was reversed, so it’s important to maintain that sense of community.”
