Dubai Telegraph - Reeking mud sparks health fears in Spain flood epicentre

EUR -
AED 3.897588
AFN 71.62565
ALL 97.2537
AMD 411.203272
ANG 1.913552
AOA 968.293905
ARS 1058.745012
AUD 1.627557
AWG 1.911648
AZN 1.807819
BAM 1.955455
BBD 2.143822
BDT 126.883565
BGN 1.95804
BHD 0.399961
BIF 3075.191117
BMD 1.061143
BND 1.421016
BOB 7.363046
BRL 6.140859
BSD 1.061762
BTN 89.662386
BWP 14.445129
BYN 3.47465
BYR 20798.394027
BZD 2.140123
CAD 1.480899
CDF 3044.418227
CHF 0.936171
CLF 0.037916
CLP 1046.211864
CNY 7.674607
COP 4713.329932
CRC 543.329624
CUC 1.061143
CUP 28.120278
CVE 110.729863
CZK 25.391006
DJF 188.586074
DKK 7.45901
DOP 63.933705
DZD 141.600995
EGP 52.213665
ETB 128.927564
FJD 2.404653
GBP 0.833113
GEL 2.907297
GHS 17.418672
GMD 75.870655
GNF 9158.721715
GTQ 8.204937
GYD 222.11867
HKD 8.254453
HNL 26.592299
HTG 139.651911
HUF 410.802767
IDR 16762.975014
ILS 3.985736
INR 89.551307
IQD 1390.096744
IRR 44679.406949
ISK 147.498979
JMD 168.710198
JOD 0.752456
JPY 164.232506
KES 137.417871
KGS 91.474118
KHR 4302.933102
KMF 488.523524
KRW 1494.624597
KWD 0.326418
KYD 0.884785
KZT 526.901752
LAK 23302.690344
LBP 95078.373015
LKR 310.479784
LRD 196.6824
LSL 19.280981
LTL 3.133278
LVL 0.641875
LYD 5.162473
MAD 10.527599
MDL 19.005538
MGA 4923.70171
MKD 61.609117
MMK 3446.549617
MOP 8.506897
MRU 42.335075
MUR 49.990475
MVR 16.405298
MWK 1841.082561
MXN 21.872228
MYR 4.708282
MZN 67.833584
NAD 19.281345
NGN 1774.951722
NIO 39.023514
NOK 11.770787
NPR 143.459418
NZD 1.793877
OMR 0.40856
PAB 1.061762
PEN 4.000181
PGK 4.260222
PHP 62.350627
PKR 295.050664
PLN 4.354234
PYG 8295.534619
QAR 3.863355
RON 4.976865
RSD 116.971889
RUB 104.249364
RWF 1445.806728
SAR 3.987149
SBD 8.850728
SCR 14.422986
SDG 638.273057
SEK 11.587852
SGD 1.421194
SLE 24.247182
SOS 605.912547
SRD 37.389344
STD 21963.508396
SVC 9.290797
SZL 18.707922
THB 36.991474
TJS 11.2858
TMT 3.72461
TND 3.339947
TOP 2.485304
TRY 36.467135
TTD 7.215065
TWD 34.443094
TZS 2824.618246
UAH 43.973732
UGX 3901.494647
USD 1.061143
UYU 44.764202
UZS 13614.459211
VES 47.430329
VND 26899.963703
XAF 655.872046
XCD 2.867791
XDR 0.799896
XOF 645.174431
XPF 119.331742
YER 265.099936
ZAR 19.251725
ZMK 9551.56176
ZMW 28.906256
ZWL 341.687469
  • RBGPF

    0.0300

    60.22

    +0.05%

  • BCC

    -2.0100

    141.13

    -1.42%

  • CMSC

    -0.1800

    24.54

    -0.73%

  • BCE

    -0.1600

    27.69

    -0.58%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1700

    7.16

    -2.37%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    13.67

    +0.15%

  • CMSD

    -0.2100

    24.75

    -0.85%

  • NGG

    -1.2400

    62.9

    -1.97%

  • RIO

    -1.4000

    61.2

    -2.29%

  • JRI

    -0.3000

    13.22

    -2.27%

  • GSK

    -0.8300

    35.52

    -2.34%

  • RELX

    -1.2100

    46.59

    -2.6%

  • AZN

    0.4000

    65.19

    +0.61%

  • BTI

    0.0900

    35.24

    +0.26%

  • BP

    -0.7600

    28.16

    -2.7%

  • VOD

    -0.8500

    8.47

    -10.04%

Reeking mud sparks health fears in Spain flood epicentre
Reeking mud sparks health fears in Spain flood epicentre / Photo: JOSE JORDAN - AFP

Reeking mud sparks health fears in Spain flood epicentre

The sea of mud and stagnant water submerging Spanish towns more than 10 days after the country's worst floods in decades has sparked a sickening stench and health fears.

Text size:

"That's the rotten meat," said Toni Marco, pointing to a destroyed supermarket in the devastated town of Sedavi from which a disgusting odour wafted when AFP visited.

The meat was only removed recently, well after the floods cut the refrigerators' electricity supply, added Marco, a 40-year-old employee of a private cleaning company.

The nearby town of Catarroja also remains a mud bath after the October 29 disaster that has claimed 219 lives, with a powerful reek compounding the woes of survivors.

The diversity of matter decomposing under the mud produces a spectrum of smells ranging from the mildly unpleasant to the outright repulsive.

"Each decomposition of an element smells differently," which explains why the odours vary from street to street, said Angel Aldehuela, a 51-year-old firefighter from the southern Seville region.

Dead animals may also lie buried under the mud, he told AFP.

When the mud dries, the organic matter decomposes without oxygen and "that's where those smells we're not used to start to appear," explained Miguel Rodilla, a biologist at Valencia's Polytechnic University.

"There aren't necessarily bodies nearby, but simply organic matter decomposing."

- Smell 'will get worse' -

In scenes reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic, rescuers, volunteers and residents have worn facemasks and gloves during the clean-up, while some people have complained of the stink causing headaches and dizziness.

Breathing in the pestilential miasma "isn't ideal for health", but "higher concentrations" of decomposing matter would be necessary to make it toxic, said Rodilla.

Stagnant water can trigger gastrointestinal disorders or pneumonia, Health Minister Monica Garcia told public radio RNE, but she ruled out the possibility of an "outbreak".

The health board of the Valencia region, particularly crippled by the floods, has also reported no outbreak of infectious diseases or a major threat to public health.

Even so, regional health authorities have asked local councils to apply measures to control and prevent the proliferation of mosquitoes and other insects capable of spreading diseases.

Aldehuela warned that the foetid fumes enveloping Catarroja "will get worse, without a doubt", predicting they would linger for up to a week more.

But in towns where the muck has been cleared swiftly, an aroma of bread or fruit has replaced the stench, the head of the army's emergencies unit Javier Marcos said on Friday.

H.Nadeem--DT