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Wednesday 13 November 2024 will be a date that the 3,000 inhabitants of the Axarquía villages of Benamargosa, with some 1,600 inhabitants, and Comares, with 1,400, will find difficult to forget. On that day, heavy rains during a weather event known in Spanish as a 'Dana' caused the River Benamargosa to burst its banks in Comares, causing flooding and devastation to dozens of farms, houses and several streets in Benamargosa.
One month later, both villages are still assessing the damage to buildings and other infrastructure, although they are gradually returning to normal. In the case of Benamargosa, the town hall has estimated the damage to municipal infrastructure at around two million euros, including the football pitch, which was destroyed as it is located next to the river, the municipal swimming pool, the park, the sewerage system and streets including Calle Arroyo Alpechín.
Mayor of Benamargosa Salvador Arcas explained to SUR on Friday 13 November, as the newspaper reflected on the progress made exactly one month after the 'Dana', that of the 50 or so properties damaged by the floods, practically all, with the exception of three, are functioning normally. In the three remaining cases the damage was very extensive and their owners "have decided to undertake major restoration work" according to the mayor.
Where there is still a lot of damage and a lot of work to be done is on the farms surrounding the village, which were devastated by the force of the water. Although the roads have been repaired, many farms are still covered in mud and debris, with subtropical trees destroyed and irrigation pipes damaged.
"We are in talks with the Junta de Andalucía to see what action can be taken to recover the avocado and mango farms and to drain the river at the height of the bridge in the village, to avoid a new flood if it rains like this again," said Arcas. For the mayor, the damage to the farms is "incalculable" and will "take many years to recover". In fact the local agricultural ASAJA association has estimated that more than a thousand hectares of crops have been affected in Benamargosa, Comares and Cútar.
In Comares, the most serious damage was caused to farms and rural houses, with around a dozen particularly affected. The water supply has now been restored, although only that of the public company Axaragua is available, as the three municipal wells remain unrepaired. However, the village is no longer having to use water trucks for supplies, as the mayor of Comares, José Miguel Ruiz, told SUR.
In a first estimate by Comares town hall, the damage to municipal infrastructure, including roads, pipes and bridges, is around 500,000 euros. "The aid is arriving in dribs and drabs and the resources are insufficient, we have 31,700 euros from the Junta and we are processing more from other administrations," Ruiz told Cadena Ser radio in the Axarquía.
The mayor of Benamargosa also agreed with his counterpart in Comares that the aid that has arrived so far is "insufficient". However, Arcas pointed out that they are processing all the documentation in order to obtain "the maximum possible", both for the town hall and for the residents.
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