Mud can be cleaned away with patience and a high-pressure hose, but rebuilding a home destroyed in a matter of minutes requires something more. ... Storm Adam, which hit Malaga's El Palo district last weekend, has left Belén, her partner Zamara and mother-in-law Rocío without a home.
With no support from the authorities, their closest friends and family have set up a large solidarity support network. Under the slogan 'Help Belén, Zamara and Rocío rebuild their home', they have launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover the high costs of the repair work.
As they explain in the campaign description, the water swept through the kitchen, the living room and the bedrooms on the ground floor, destroying furniture, electrical appliances, clothes and everyday belongings.
The couple have had to leave because it is impossible to live in what used to be their home. Rocío, Zamara's mother, who also lived in the property, has also been forced to leave while waiting for the property to once again meet the minimum standards for habitability.
The urgency of the campaign stems from a complex situation: the property is not covered by home insurance and both the district council and Malaga city council have already informed the three women that they would not cover the costs or offer financial assistance for the reconstruction of the collapsed structure or the removal of the accumulated rubble.
"Although the house is gradually being cleared up thanks to the invaluable help of neighbours and volunteers, the hardest part remains: covering all the expenses that lie ahead," their close ones write in the campaign.
The initial target is 20,000 euros. It will pay for skip hire and lorries, rubble clearance, masonry work on the wall and the replacement of lost essential items.
The charity campaign is not only seeking individual financial contributions, but also appealing directly to the province's business community. The organisers are calling on companies, professionals and shops to help by donating building materials, furniture and household appliances or by providing transport and building services.
As Belén told SUR a few hours after the disaster, she and her partner had just gone to bed and were watching television when the rain began to come down in torrents. "We heard the rain coming down really hard and suddenly my neighbour started shouting from outside: 'The wall, the wall, the wall!'," she explained.
Without wasting a second, she and her partner reacted instinctively: they grabbed their cat and dog and rushed upstairs to the top floor of their detached house. Barely five or ten minutes later, the structure collapsed.
"If we hadn't managed to get out in time, we'd be drowning right now," she said. The collapse of the outer boundary wall unleashed a deluge of water, mud and rocks that smashed through the kitchen door and flooded the inner patio and the master bedroom.
The water level rose to over a metre across the entire ground floor, completely destroying the living room, the bathroom, her bedroom and the kitchen, which had been refurbished just a couple of months earlier.
The scene inside the property was one of utter devastation. A two-door fridge and a freezer lay on the floor after being knocked over by the floodwaters; a microwave was under the stairs in the living room; and some of the crockery and cutlery were scattered across the living room amongst the standing water.
"We've lost everything. We've got no clothes, no food, not even shoes. Everything was trapped inside the room," Belénsaid. Fortunately, the young woman's mother-in-law, who usually lives in the house, was not at home that night.