#flood-recovery

#flood-recovery

Carla leads a fight in flood-damaged Valencia where climate change and tourism threaten turtles along Spain's coastline. Carla grew up witnessing her father's fight to protect Valencia's fragile beach ecosystems. Now, as climate change warms the Mediterranean, sea turtles driven by rising sea temperatures have begun arriving to lay their eggs on her city's shoreline. But the beaches they rely on are under threat.

The mother of all food fights painted a packed central street in the eastern town of Buñol deep red as revellers squished, smashed and hurled 120 tons of the overripe fruit. Tarps covered building fronts as an estimated 20,000 people let loose amid screams and laughter. Every article of clothing and pretty much every inch of bare skin and hair ended up covered in a pulpy mush, with many wearing white shirts that quickly were stained pink.

Ayers Variety & Hardware was flooded in a 2019 storm, causing over $100,000 in damage, but the community supported it intensely for a year after the disaster.

The massive community effort began with a Facebook post from an Austin real estate agent, which called for volunteers to help recover from the flooding.