One week after flash floods destroyed his home in Valencia, Spain, Steven Scicluna still does not know when he and his family will be able to move back in.

At the moment the family are living with friends because their home, in La Torre, is still muddy and humid. They are thankful for all the help they are getting.

"The help has been incredible - both from friends and from strangers," says Steven as he shares his experience with Times of Malta.

More than 200 people died in Valencia and neighbouring providences after flash floods on October 29. Steven, a Maltese artist and designer, who moved to Valencia in 2016 – experienced it first-hand. 

He and his Spanish wife and their three-year-old son live in La Torre. On  October 29, the family were expecting rain. There had been a weather warning about a DANA – a weather condition that leads to a sudden downpour.

The flooded terrace of Steven Scicluna's home.

“There is a DANA every year but it’s never this bad. Some localised flooding is expected but not on this scale,” he said.

Waiting for the flood to hit

That morning the couple took their son to kindergarten. When Steven picked him up at about 3pm it was raining heavily on the way home.

“I was concerned and just wanted to get home… We live in La Torre where there was not much rain. The rain that flooded the area was not from here – it came from the affected areas, toward us.

“At home we kept following the news. At around 8pm we had just finished having dinner and I was seeing the news on social media,” he recalled.

On the news, they could see that areas closer to them were flooding.

“Later, at about 8pm, I was near the door and started seeing lights coming from the outside. I went outside to see. It was the flood waters in our streets… still not that high but high enough that cars were starting to float down the streets. What I was seeing was the headlights of the cars which were still on, bobbing up and down.”

The couple gathered their valuables from downstairs and went upstairs.

“Before we knew it, in around half an hour, the water was inside and quite deep. From then onwards we were upstairs on the second floor seeing things unfold from the balcony. My wife was petrified. My son had no idea what was happening.

Friends help clean up after the flood.

"You start seeing people shouting for help. Trapped inside their cars. There was an elderly lady who lives right next to us, trapped inside her home and the firefighters came to save her in a dingy - they found her up to her neck in water,” he recalled.

Picking up the pieces

The water peaked at about midnight and, after that, it slowly started to subside. Over the next few days, the cleanup started to remove the debris and the mud and clean the streets and houses. Now cars have been cleaned out from the streets and taken to a temporary parking area. Steven’s car is there too.

“Now you can start seeing the pavements even though there is still mud. Houses are being cleaned with the help of neighbours and friends, The help has been incredible from both friends and strangers.

Scenes of the clean-up after the flood.

“The situation is better, but the area is still not liveable from a health perspective, especially with family and children. Our house is wet and humid – we need to let it dry out. We don’t know when we will be able to return home. We’ve been given shelter at a friend's place and we will be living there until the situation gets better,” he said.

To help Steven and his family you can donate money to help them rebuild their life here.