More than 500 years ago, Valencia, like now, was flooded and destroyed by the force of the waters. The tragedy was compared to the biblical episode of Noah’s ark and the deaths were counted in the hundreds.
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The storm of recent days in Valencia is described as the most destructive of the 21st century, but history shows that the Spanish province has been a victim, over the centuries, of the destructive force of water from torrential rains. The most famous and deadly flood occurred in Valencia September 27, 1517 and caused hundreds of homes and structures to collapse. The deaths were counted in the hundreds and there is no record of a specific number.
The city on the eastern coast of Spain was preparing for a week of festivities to celebrate the arrival of the new king, the one who would be the future Emperor Charles V, as El Español recalls. Old newspaper reports report heavy rains lashing the region for more than a month. Upon the new monarch’s arrival in Spain, on September 2, the rain stopped, a fact that was interpreted by the Valencians as a good omen for the future.
Preview failed. On September 27, the Tura River overflowed and caused flooding throughout the city. José Ángel Núñez Mora, a Spanish climatologist consulted by El Español, analyzed documents that record the strength of the flood that caused the Collapse of three of the five bridges. that existed in the city at that time.
Other archives from the time contain reports detailing that “the river came from Valencia so grown, that it rose above the bridges and entered [na cidade]”. Other towns in the region, such as Sumacàrcer, Gavarda, Alzira or Algemesí, were also affected by torrential rains at the same time, as happened in recent days.
In one of the epicenters of the tragedy in Valencia: “It wasn’t even raining, we thought we had time”
In 2016, the newspaper Las Provincias wrote about the disaster of 1517, which celebrated its 499th anniversary that year. He cited contemporary chroniclers of the floods that became historic because of their size. They were aware of the religious interpretation that many Valencians gave to the natural tragedy. They considered it a “new universal flood of biblical dimensions“, comparing it to Noah’s warning.
In one of the chronicles consulted it is reported that it rained for almost forty days in a row, a fact that was used as a parallel to the biblical episode of Noah’s ark, in which it rained “40 days and 40 nights.” “The city became a Babylon of screams and voices, born from those who drowned in the waters, and beneath the houses that collapsed,” reads the chronicle cited by the Spanish newspaper.
From the 14th to the 17th centuries, the Valencians designed works with the aim of containing the force of the waters and preventing the Túria River from overflowing from time to time. In 1957, after 75% of the city was submerged, studies were begun to divert the river to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.. Later, the Túria River was diverted to the south of the city of Valencia, and the old river bed is currently used as a municipal park.
Source: Observadora
