He described the afternoon of Saturday, October 8th, like any other rainy day, typical of this time of year, when the sky began to cloud over and drops of water began to fall on the streets of Las Tejerías in the Santos Michelena Municipality of Aragua State.
By La Patilla – Marianny Castellanos
Oct 10, 2022
It was 5:00 in the afternoon and what they thought would be a temporary rain storm turned into an unstoppable torrential rain that fell on this Aragua town. As time passed, the atmosphere became more terrifying, with thunder and lightning illuminating the sky.
Just a little more than 2 hours of heavy rains were enough so that late that night, the anguish and despair of the inhabitants of Las Tejerías began to be the protagonists of this tragic story that keeps all Venezuelans mourning.
Without prior notice, the “Los Patos” ravine surprised the residents of the “El Béisbol” sector with an immense avalanche of water and mud that covered them up to 2 meters high. Some could escape the landslide by climbing to the upper floors of some houses, but others were buried in the mud.
The authorities report hundreds of victims and at least 37 deaths, plus some 60 missing people. But everything indicates that these figures will increase dramatically in the next few hours.
Without understanding what was happening and without the opportunity to collect any of their belongings, many victims of this trough desperately clung to life, while they saw their houses destroyed in a few seconds. What took so many years to build are now mud razed structures. Everything was gone in an instant.
In A Matter Of Seconds
Nicolás Medina has lived in Las Tejerías for 63 years. Still in shock, he can’t understand how things happened. His gaze is lost in nothingness, as if trying to assimilate everything that is happening to him. In that look there is also a lot of pain.
With sadness and resignation, he removes mud from his house. Nicolás described the night of Saturday, October 8th, as an unexpected monster that made water come out from under the ground.
“This was in a matter of seconds… We knew it was raining, that the streets were flooded, but when we saw that the water began to get in, then it was that we saw that the ravine had overflowed. We tried to close the back, we felt the door burst open, and when we looked out, it was water coming in,” he said, as friends and family helped clear his home.
In order not to be swept away by the current, Nicolás, along with his wife and 18 year old granddaughter, climbed on a table. However, the water continued to rise, so they clung to whatever that was floating and thus managed to get out.
“We saw that one steel drum came by floating, we managed to grab it and we held on there. From there we wobbled and we saw stuff that came and went through the window, but we thank God that we are fine,” he said.
In all the years that Nicolás has lived in the capital of the Santos Michelena Municipality, he assured that something similar had never happened before. That’s why this situation caught them by surprise. “Here other times it has rained hard and the creek has grown, but this was unexpected. It was a monster!”
Lost The Efforts Of Years
Lorenzo Marín is one of the merchants in the central area of Las Tejerías. For more than 20 years he ran his business in which he offered meats, charcuterie and groceries in general to the residents of this town.
Between tears and a lot of pain, Marín is speechless: his shop is devastated. “It is a total loss… Not even the place can be recovered, it is totally destroyed, the number of people who showed up… We are trying to get everything out and see what we can save to help,” he said between sobs.
Francisco González is another of the merchants in the area, where the ravine took everything; years of effort to build the eight stores where they worked before the landslide.
In the absence of explanations of what could have caused the landslide, the rumors that reach those affected is that the “El Jarillo” dam collapsed, and in the absence of official information, they decide to believe in that hypothesis.
“They say that it was “El Jarillo” dam that collapsed. I don’t know, We don’t know, but that’s what they say. In the 65 years that I have been here, the ravine has grown normally, but this time it got into the houses. I was left with nothing,” lamented Francisco, who now has to start from scratch. He was left with nothing.
Without Explanation
Eliécer Pérez is a resident who helps those most affected to clear the disaster area. When he tries to explain what happened, he blanks out. He assures that everything was so unexpected, that it did not give time for anything.
“Suddenly that (the ravine) overflowed and took everything. In a matter of seconds. It did not rain much compared to previous days when the creek had grown. Other days it had rained harder and nothing had happened. About a week ago it rained 12 hours and nothing happened,” said Pérez, puzzled, and that is the same reasoning that echoes in the heads of many of the affected.
What do you feel when you see your town like this? We ask him who immediately answers: “Our town is finished.”
And he continues in a string of laments: “When will the town recover? Most likely never. The ways are not going to be able to return, but they (government) should at least reach out to the people, help the merchants who lost everything and were left on the streets. The girl there who worked with animals did not want to leave and she was walled up with the animals. The hairdressers, the guy who sold articles for personal use. Look how the tower fell on him! It destroyed everything. They managed to get out, but they lost everything.”
Better Organization
Mariana Ballesteros is one of the inhabitants who is focused on helping the victims of Las Tejerías. And despite the fact that many organizations, foundations and institutions have been in charge of delivering the donations that arrive from all over the country, the logistics have not been the most appropriate.
The woman demands greater organization from Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which leaves donations in the lower part of town and does not reach the areas where it is really needed.
“There are communal councils here. If that is what we need, we will grab a house and organize the donations by sector and we know who we are going to give it to. But if they send them down there (…) There are people there who have received clothing and food who were not affected,” complained Mariana.
Another of those affected indicated that the authorities have not yet arrived at his home: “At least there are (volunteer) associations that have come with water and food.”
More Victims Than Those Registered
Although at the moment of writing this report, the official figure is 37 disappeared, the neighbors assure that there are more than those reported. Many people do not find their relatives and as the hours go by, they lose hope of finding them alive.
During the tour carried out by the correspondent of lapatilla.com through the place of the landslide and flash flood and as the sun grew worse, the smell of decomposing human flesh intensified, and it was becoming more and more unbearable to breathe.
Meanwhile, the rescuers and volunteers carry out their work of removing mud and debris, hoping to find some sign of life, but with the fear of running into someone dead, or what is even worse: nothing. Perhaps the exact number of those who died in this tragedy will never be known, which resembles the nightmare of what happened in Vargas State in December 1999.
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