What would you take if you knew that your house was going to disappear in a few hours? It is a question that everyone can answer, but that few have had to put into practice. It is the case of many inhabitants of the island of La Palma, who have had to leave with what little they could grab before the lava destroyed their homes. Gregorio García and Remedios Armas are two residents of the Todoque neighborhood, threatened by the imminent arrival of the lava, who have been forced to collect belongings before it disappears completely.
García has recently arrived at his home to pick up some things, as he and the rest of the neighbors had to leave hastily: “The day we left, we did it in a hurry. I took some paper, some writing and a little dog that I have ”. He has been able to obtain other belongings, but he has done so in the proximity of the lava: “My house is about 25 meters from a lava tongue that is advancing. It goes very slowly, but with the air it is inflating and there are spaces with more than 15 meters of height ”.
A return home to save what is possible
“Here, whatever profession you have, you have a plantain estate. It helps to live, ”said García, who explained that a large part of these lands have been destroyed and will not be able to be cultivated again. Furthermore, those that are still standing cannot be watered as the irrigation supply has been cut off and they are covered in ash. “As for the papers, if you want help, the same insurers are going to get silly and ask you for photos and other things, “he advised, and also narrated that banks began to offer insurance for damage from volcanoes and earthquakes when the tremors began:” The banks were dedicated to making insurance and I made one, but these insurances cover part of it ”.
“Now tourists want to come to observe the natural spectacle, and I understand it, but leave the houses to us. I do not think that five million euros is a lot for the State. All the houses there are paid for and 700 or 800 people are housed, ”García said helplessly. He lives alone on the island and has two children living in Tenerife. He has said that he has asked them not to go to La Palma because “he cannot face lava” and has positively valued the municipalities, which are giving all possible help, offering clothes to those who, like García, do not they could take a lot to flee.
A mother who only wants a house for her children
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Remedios Armas has been sleeping in a ward for four days with other affected people. “They summoned us to a series of neighborhoods for a meeting and told us to have a small suitcase packed. The suitcase had a change and a daughter because my house does not have writing. Despite being an unpredictable phenomenon, his area was not high risk. However, without prior warning, great tremors began and a consequent huge flare. “At that moment you think it is impossible for it to be over my house and when I look… it was above it and it looked very close to my house!” “I put the backpack in the car, put the children and my 89-year-old mother, lowered the levers of the light, turned off the water and with that I went out”, is the sequence of actions that the neighbor took when she saw the lava so close .
“I am left with nothing. I do not have anything. If I had known that the lava was coming down so slowly, I could have taken things out, but at that moment it was going down super fast ”, added Armas, with difficulties to speak. “I felt so helpless, because I was alone with an older person, three small children who I did not know what to say … I did not know how to explain what was happening.” His house has completely disappeared, and he has been able to see photos of the moment when the lava reached his house: “It is heartbreaking. It’s total chaos. I have been sleeping in the shelter with my mother for three nights. I got my ex-husband’s mother to stay with the children so that the three of them could be together and not be in a place like this. “
A heartbreaking testimony from a mother who has been looking for a place to stay indefinitely these days: “The social services have been wonderful and the city council too. The people here are charming, but they are momentary. My psychologist has told me that I must start from scratch and forget the previous life but… how? Social services say that there will be help but I need a house ”. Armas has also told how her children constantly call her and ask when her mother is going to return with them, and made her clearly excited: “I lived happily.” He concluded with a petition that goes beyond the personal, but represents an entire devastated population: “This is not for me; this is for all of us who have lost our home: help us, help us please ”.
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