A resident of La Guaira: “The situation is one of total collapse”
A resident of La Guaira named José Rolón has told Spanish Television that the situation is one of “total collapse.” “There is no electricity, internet, water, or any service,” he stated, adding that only those, like him, who have a satellite phone can communicate.
This resident has recounted his impressions after a tour of the Los Corales area, which has practically disappeared, in his opinion: “The buildings that were there are no longer there, it is as if there had been an explosion or controlled demolition: there is not a single building standing.” The scene is repeated in Caraballeda, where there are also multiple very damaged buildings. “There are people trying to loot homes and others crying and shouting the names of their relatives in the hope of finding them alive,” he assured Spanish public television.
Rolón has also described the situation in one of the clinics in the Caraballeda parish, where he went to look for masks and oxygen for some elderly neighbors. “Although part of the hospital has collapsed, the doctors and nurses continued treating the wounded in the street. There were two dead people there, covered with sheets,” he stated. “Later, the wall of a building collapsed on a person who was standing. He was buried and only his legs were visible. There are hundreds of similar cases.”
This neighbor, whose house has also been left uninhabitable, has criticized the fact that the authorities have not yet spoken out. “I am on the street. There is no type of information, it is as if the State does not exist and the people are left to their own devices. We have not heard any official statement from the mayor or any other authority, so everyone is trying to resolve as best they can, look for their relatives and survive. What we see is a State desolate and forgotten by government agencies. There was no prevention policy for a natural disaster of this magnitude and today we are seeing the consequences,” he stated.
