The 1957 Valencia flood ( es, link=no, gran riada de Valencia) was a natural disaster that occurred on 14 October 1957 in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Spain. The flood resulted in significant damage to property and caused the deaths of at least 81 people. In response to the tragedy, the Spanish government devised and enacted the ''Plan Sur'', which rerouted the city's main river, the Turia.

Background

A large number of floods have been recorded in Valencia, from 1321 to 1897. Up to 75 floods are estimated to have taken place in the seven centuries prior to the 1957 flood.

The disaster

During a 3-day cold drop, heavy rain had fallen in the city and upstream along the Túria river on Saturday 12 October, easing up overnight.El desbordamiento del río Turia

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

, 15 October 1957, p10-11 The rain resumed the next morning around 07:00. The towns of

Chelva Chelva is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Los Serranos in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. Its name in Valencian language, Valencian is ''Xelva'' ...

Casinos Casinos may refer to: * Casinos, Valencia, municipality in Spain * David Casinos (born 1972), Spanish Paralympian athlete * The Casinos, an American popular music group See also *Casino (disambiguation) A casino is a facility that houses and accom ...

and Ademuz were particularly affected, suffering light flooding. The rain continued until 14 October. In Valencia, there was torrential rainfall around midday on the 14th. The Turia overflowed, discharging up to of water into the city. While some of the older streets in Valencia's historic centre, such as Calle del Micalet, Plaza de la Reina and Plaza del Michalet, largely escaped damage, the newer bridges and areas to the north of the river, such as Zaidia and Campanar, suffered severe damage. In the Marxalanes district, some streets were under 5 metres of water.Hasta aquí llegó la riada
ABC, 13 August 2007 The Natzaret district near Valencia port was cut off from the rest of the city. The city as a whole was left without water, gas and electricity and around 75% of commercial and industrial activity was affected. Around 5,800 homes were destroyed, leaving approximately 3,500 families homeless. The final death toll was at least 81 people.

Response

The local governments of Murcia, Madrid, Barcelona and surrounding areas immediately offered help, although external rescue efforts were hindered by the flooding of the main roads to the city. The Spanish army was deployed alongside the emergency services to help in the cleanup operation. The flood occurred as the government was having meetings in Barcelona. The minister responsible,

Luis Carrero Blanco Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco (4 March 1904 – 20 December 1973) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of Spain and i ...

, interrupted those meetings to put Vicente Mortes Alfonso in charge of finding temporary housing for those left homeless by the disaster. On 24 October 1957, Spanish dictator

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

visited Valencia and promised government funding for reconstruction of the city and adequate supplies to those affected. In reaction to the disaster, the

Cortes Españolas The Cortes Españolas ( en, Spanish Courts), known informally as the Cortes franquistas ( en, Francoist Courts), was the name of the legislative institution promulgated by the '' Caudillo'' of Spain Francisco Franco which was established on 17 ...

unanimously approved the ''Plan Sur'' on 21 December 1961.Martínez Roda
p38 This rerouted the Turia to the south of Valencia, three kilometres from its original course. The new course is long and wide. Despite objections from

Quart de Poblet Quart de Poblet (, Spanish and unofficially: ''Cuart de Poblet'' or ''Cuarte'')Toponym in Castilian as the Spanish Royal Academy: ''Spelling of Spanish.'' Madrid: Espasa, 1999. ; "Appendix 3, pages 133–155. is a municipality in the ''comarca' ...

and

Mislata Mislata is a city in the Valencian Community, Spain. It has borders with the city of Valencia and Quart de Poblet in the west and Xirivella in the south. Population In recent decades it has gone from being a village in the Horta region of the Va ...

, municipalities to the west of Valencia affected by the plan, work began in 1964 and finished in 1973.

References

External links

Photos of Francisco Franco's visit to Valencia in the aftermath of the flood
, Levante-EMV.com, accessed 9 November 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Valencia flood,1957

1957 in Spain Flood,Valencia,1957 1957 flood October 1957 events in Europe