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Victims of Valencia floods grapple with mental toll as rain returns

Victims of Valencia floods grapple with mental toll as rain returns
Workers install structures and enormous stones in the dry artificial channel of Paiporta,, Spain. (AFP)
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Victims of Valencia floods grapple with mental toll as rain returns

Victims of Valencia floods grapple with mental toll as rain returns
  • Some parts of Europe experienced their wettest year on record in 2024, with storms and flooding affecting an estimated 413,000 people, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service
  • Governments must plan for not only the material but also the psychological damage floods inflict on victims, health experts say

ALFAFAR: The sound of rain still triggers panic in Jose Manuel Gonzalez, a year after he spent six hours clinging to a traffic light as floods in the Valencia region of Spain swept away everything in their path, killing more than 220 people including his brother.
Gonzalez, 58, said he often wakes up in a state of shock, unable to shake off memories of the night on that traffic light from where he watched his daughter hold on for her life to the awning of a nearby shop in the Valencia suburb of Alfafar, one of the worst-affected areas.
He feels responsible for his elderly mother, who is devastated after his brother was taken by a torrent of water as he tried to rescue a woman from a car that night.
Even just a drop of rain is “like an alarm, something that goes off in my head, like a flashing light, as if warning me about something,” he said.
Doctors diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and he was prescribed tranquilizers, which he said help him collect his thoughts and remind himself he is safe when it rains.
Weather-related natural disasters, many exacerbated by climate change, are on the rise, according to the United Nations. Studies show the prolonged time it can take to clear up after floods can also place significant stress on its victims, leaving them with long-term mental health issues.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE AND FEAR OF THE RAIN
Governments must plan for not only the material but also the psychological damage floods inflict on victims, health experts say. Almost one in five people suffer from PTSD after flooding, according to a 2015 study in the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal published by Cambridge University Press.
Some parts of Europe experienced their wettest year on record in 2024, with storms and flooding affecting an estimated 413,000 people, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. That resulted in the loss of at least 335 lives and caused at least 18 billion euros ($21 billion) of damage.
In the wake of the Valencia floods, the Spanish government created a special mental health emergency unit (USME), which along with other local mental health services has treated thousands of people in the worst-hit areas.
Almost 28 percent of adults affected by the floods suffered from PTSD, according to a poll of 2,275 people carried out by the regional government’s health department.
“We have people who don’t want to take a bath, or go to the sea, or be near water. There is a lot of aquaphobia,” said Julieta Mondo, a psychologist at USME.
“Trauma makes your brain constantly remind you that (the rain) is dangerous,” she added.
Treatment involves explaining to people that their reaction is normal and gradually exposing them to their fear of water, she said.
She said more women tend to suffer from the psychological effects of the floods because they are often the main caregivers in the home and struggle to balance looking after children with their own emotions, especially when it rains.
Eleven people died on Arantxa Ferrer’s street in La Torre, a suburb across the river from Valencia city. She escaped by climbing out through her terrace to a neighbor’s apartment after her ground floor flat began filling with water.

MEDICATION AND THERAPY TO ALLEVIATE PTSD
Immediately after the floods, she couldn’t sleep, she said. She would shut her eyes and all she could hear were noises of people shouting and of water. Today, with the help of medication and therapy to alleviate her PTSD she can endure the sight and sound of the rain and has even ventured out to see the river that broke its banks and that, along with the overflowing of several ravines, caused destruction and death in her neighborhood.
Ferrer, a 47-year-old marketing executive, said her doctor has told her, “go to the window, watch the rain fall, listen to it” to overcome her fear at the sound.
Her neighbor, Juan Benet, whose sister died in the floods, was more skeptical about therapy’s benefits. An army psychologist came to speak to him but he felt no connection with the therapist who hadn’t experienced what he had, he said.
“It didn’t do anything for me, nor will it ever do anything for me, because I have it here and here,” he said, pointing at his head and heart. “This will never go away.”
With the end of the summer, the rainy season is back in Valencia. Authorities have already issued several red alerts, warning of the possibility of torrential rain and flooding that ultimately didn’t transpire.
Gonzalez, who owns a business providing psychometric tests for drivers, said he’s struggling to go back to the light-hearted person he was before the floods. He and his partner have stopped traveling and he sometimes struggles to understand when asked questions, he said.
“I want to move forward, but it’s impossible to be who I was before without the help of anti-anxiety medication,” he said. “Everything scares me. I can’t help it, all because of post-traumatic stress.”


Zelensky hails ‘strong’ message’ of US sanctions on Russia

Updated 1 sec ago

Zelensky hails ‘strong’ message’ of US sanctions on Russia

Zelensky hails ‘strong’ message’ of US sanctions on Russia
BRUSSELS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hailed the “strong and much-needed” message sent by US sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, after President Donald Trump moved to ratchet up pressure on Moscow in step with the EU.
“We waited for this. God bless it will work and this is very important,” Zelensky told journalists at an EU summit in Brussels, saying Washington had sent “a good signal to other countries in the world to join the sanctions.”
Trump slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war “don’t go anywhere.”
Posting on X as he arrived in Brussels, Zelensky thanked Trump for a “resolute and well-targeted decision.”
He said the US sanctions were a “clear signal that prolonging the war and spreading terror come at a cost.”
“It is a strong and much-needed message that aggression will not go unanswered,” he said.
Trump has held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed.
His move came as the European Union approved a 19th package of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its neighbor.
As part of its new measures, the 27-nation bloc likewise targeted Russia’s fossil fuels by bringing forward a ban on the import of liquefied natural gas by a year to the start of 2027.
It also blacklisted over 100 more tankers from Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet” of aging oil vessels and imposed controls on the travel of Russian diplomats suspected of espionage.
The package was formally adopted Thursday, just before Zelensky joined EU leaders for summit talks focused on shoring up support for Ukraine.

Russian strikes kill rescuer, damage synagogue in Ukraine

Russian strikes kill rescuer, damage synagogue in Ukraine
Updated 15 min 45 sec ago

Russian strikes kill rescuer, damage synagogue in Ukraine

Russian strikes kill rescuer, damage synagogue in Ukraine
  • Russian attacks overnight and into the early hours of Thursday killed one rescue worker in Ukraine, disrupted train services and damaged a synagogue, Ukrainian officials said

KYIV: Russian attacks overnight and into the early hours of Thursday killed one rescue worker in Ukraine, disrupted train services and damaged a synagogue, Ukrainian officials said.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard air raid sirens and explosions during the night, as Russia launched 130 drones, according to the Ukrainian air force.
The emergency services said the rescue worker was killed and five others were wounded putting out a fire during a repeat Russian attack on the village of Zelenyi Gai in the eastern Kharkiv region.
“Another crime against rescuers,” its statement posted on social media said.
In Kyiv, eight people were wounded, city officials said, while the foreign ministry announced a synagogue had been damaged during the attack on three districts of the city.
“Russian terror does not spare anyone, including religious communities,” the foreign ministry said.
Its statement added that 640 places of worship and 67 religious leaders had been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
AFP journalists in Kyiv saw residential buildings whose windows were blown out in the attack and the charred remains of cars as residents cleared rubble.
In the eastern Sumy region, officials said two railway workers were wounded, while the state trains operator said services were disrupted in the border region.
Russia’s defense ministry meanwhile said it shot down 139 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly over western regions bordering Ukraine.
The governor of the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, reported a fire at an industrial site, after unverified images on social media showed a large flame at an oil refinery there.
The overnight exchange of Russian and Ukrainian fire came one day after Russian bombardments killed seven people, including two children, and spurred nationwide blackouts across Ukraine.


South Africa seeks to save birds from wind turbine risks

South Africa seeks to save birds from wind turbine risks
Updated 23 October 2025

South Africa seeks to save birds from wind turbine risks

South Africa seeks to save birds from wind turbine risks
  • With more than 1,400 turbines operating across South Africa, an estimated 6,000 birds die this way a year, ten percent are endangered species
  • To mitigate the impact, Excelsior Wind Farm has implemented a Shutdown on Demand Protocol that prioritizes six vulnerable species, including the Cape vulture and endangered black harrier

SWELLENDAM: Powerful gusts shook an observation post perched on a hill at a wind farm in South Africa as two monitors scanned the landscape through binoculars.
The Overberg mountains stretched along the horizon, but the monitors — bundled in scarves — were focused on activity much closer: around a giant wind turbine, a small, dark silhouette had appeared.
“Stop turbine 11, please. Cape vulture,” one said into a walkie-talkie. “Stopping turbine 11,” came the reply.
Immediately, the blades of the 150-meter (500-feet) turbine began to slow, coming to a complete stop in less than a minute.
BirdLife South Africa estimates that every year an average 4.25 birds are killed per wind turbine, most often when they fly into blades that can reach speeds of up to 280 kilometers (175 miles) per hour.
With more than 1,400 turbines operating across South Africa, an estimated 6,000 birds die this way a year, the group says. Ten percent are endangered species.
To mitigate the impact, Excelsior Wind Farm has implemented a Shutdown on Demand Protocol that prioritizes six vulnerable species, including the Cape vulture and endangered black harrier.
When monitors spot one, “they inform the control room via radio and that’s when they will turn off the turbine,” said conservationist Clarissa Mars, who oversees the program at the farm 200 kilometers east of Cape Town.
“That takes approximately 43 seconds,” she told AFP.
“There were less than eight fatalities for the site in approximately five years,” Mars said. “And I’m just very happy knowing there were no fatalities this year.”
The Stop on Demand Protocol — developed in the late 2010s, notably in Kenya — has been adopted worldwide and was introduced at Excelsior in 2020.
Its impact on energy output at its small operation of 13 turbines has been negligible, said site manager Jacques Redelinghuys.
“We’ve lost less than 0.5 percent of revenue due to the program,” he said. “And on days like today, when we do produce more due to our high wind speed, we make up for the losses that we incurred.”

- Extinction by wind farm? -

While the shutdown protocol has saved some species from the blades at Excelsior, such as the Cape vulture, it has been less effective for the black harrier, a critically endangered bird of which only around 1,300 remain in the world.
The smaller bird is harder for the monitors to spot, conservationist Odette Curtis-Scott said.
The Overberg region is a vital breeding ground for the black harrier, but 95 percent of its natural habitat here has been lost to agriculture, she said.
This forces the bird to travel further in search of water and prey, increasing the risks of colliding with turbines.
“It’s not ideal that the wind farm is where it is,” said Curtis-Scott, who heads the Overberg Renosterveld Trust.
In early 2025, the trust bought land five kilometers from Excelsior where there is a black harrier colony and about 40 return to breed each year.
Despite the efforts, around 13 black harriers have been killed at South Africa’s more than 30 wind farms in the past decade, according to University of Cape Town professor Rob Simmons.
“If we were to kill an extra three to five adult black harriers per year through wind farms, the population will go extinct within 75 to 100 years,” he said.
“It’s one of the first species in South Africa, possibly even in Africa, for which we know that wind farms can have a direct effect on the potential extinction.”
Another potential solution to this “green-green dilemma” is painting turbine blades, Simmons said.
“Birds do not see black and white contrasts as well as we do,” he said. “They, therefore, do not see a white blade spinning against a cloudy sky. This is very likely why they do not avoid it.”
An experiment at a wind farm 90 kilometers north of Cape Town, where blades were painted with bold red stripes, resulted in a 87 percent drop in bird mortality over two years, he said.
“We cannot continue burning fossil fuels,” he said. “Some species, like the black harrier, will not survive climate change. But we also cannot sacrifice numerous birds on the altar of renewable energy.”


American e-waste is causing a ‘hidden tsunami’ in Southeast Asia, report says

American e-waste is causing a ‘hidden tsunami’ in Southeast Asia, report says
Updated 23 October 2025

American e-waste is causing a ‘hidden tsunami’ in Southeast Asia, report says

American e-waste is causing a ‘hidden tsunami’ in Southeast Asia, report says
  • Electronic waste, or e-waste, includes discarded devices like phones and computers containing both valuable materials and toxic metals like lead, cadmium and mercury
  • That American e-waste adds to the burden for Asia, which already produces nearly half the world’s total

HANOI: Millions of tons of discarded electronics from the United States are being shipped overseas, much of it to developing countries in Southeast Asia unprepared to safely handle hazardous waste, according to a new report released Wednesday by an environmental watchdog.
The Seattle-based Basel Action Network, or BAN, said a two-year investigation found at least 10 US companies exporting used electronics to Asia and the Middle East, in what it says is a “hidden tsunami” of electronic waste.
“This new, almost invisible tsunami of e-waste, is taking place ... padding already lucrative profit margins of the electronics recycling sector while allowing a major portion of the American public’s and corporate IT equipment to be surreptitiously exported to and processed under harmful conditions in Southeast Asia,” the report said.
Growing e-waste
Electronic waste, or e-waste, includes discarded devices like phones and computers containing both valuable materials and toxic metals like lead, cadmium and mercury. As gadgets are replaced faster, global e-waste is growing five times quicker than it’s formally recycled.
The world produced a record 62 million metric tons in 2022. That’s expected to climb to 82 million by 2030, according to the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union and its research arm, UNITAR.
Toxic chemicals
That American e-waste adds to the burden for Asia, which already produces nearly half the world’s total. Much of it is dumped in landfills, leaching toxic chemicals into the environment. Some ends up in informal scrapyards, where workers burn or dismantle devices by hand, often without protection, releasing toxic fumes and scrap.
About 2,000 containers — roughly 33,000 metric tons (36,376 US tons) — of used electronics leave US ports every month, according to the report. It said the companies behind the shipments, described as “e-waste brokers,” typically don’t recycle the waste themselves but send it to companies in developing countries.
Response to the report
The companies identified in the report include Attan Recycling, Corporate eWaste Solutions or CEWS, Creative Metals Group, EDM, First America Metal Corp., GEM Iron and Metal Inc., Greenland Resource, IQA Metals, PPM Recycling and Semsotai.
Six of the companies didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
Semsotai told The Associated Press that it doesn’t export scrap, only working components for reuse. It accused BAN of bias.
PPM Recycling told The Associated Press that its warehouses in California and Texas ship only aluminum and other non-iron metals to Malaysia. It said BAN had exaggerated shipment volumes, adding that it used accurate trade codes and followed US and international rules.
Greenland Resource told The Associated Press it took the allegations seriously and was reviewing the matter internally and couldn’t comment further without seeing the report.
CEWS said it follows strict environmental standards, but some aspects of where and how recycled materials are handled are industrial secrets.
Value of more than $1 billion
The report estimated that between January 2023 and February 2025, the 10 companies exported more than 10,000 containers of potential e-waste valued at over $1 billion, the report said. Industrywide, such trade could top $200 million a month.
Eight of the 10 identified companies hold R2V3 certifications — an industry standard meant to ensure electronics are recycled safely and responsibly, raising questions about the value of such a certification, the report said.
Several companies operate out of California, despite the state’s strict e-waste laws requiring full reporting and proper downstream handling of electronic and universal waste.
International treaty
Many e-waste containers go to countries that have banned such imports under the Basel Convention, which is an international treaty that bars hazardous waste trade from non-signatories like the US, the only industrialized nation yet to ratify it.
The nonprofit said its review of government and private trade records from ships and customs officials showed shipments were often declared under trade codes that did not match those for electronic waste, such as “commodity materials” like raw metals or other recyclable goods to evade detection. Such classifications were “highly unlikely” given how the companies publicly describe their operations, the report said.
Landfills and pollution
Tony R. Walker, who studies global waste trade at the Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies in Halifax in Canada, said he wasn’t surprised that e-waste continues to evade regulation. While some devices can be legally traded if functional, most such exports to developing nations are broken or obsolete and mislabeled, bound for landfills that pollute the environment and have little market value, he said.
He pointed to Malaysia — a Basel Convention signatory identified in the report as the primary destination for US e-waste — saying the country would be overwhelmed by that volume, in addition to waste from other wealthy nations.
“It simply means the country is being overwhelmed with what is essentially pollution transfer from other nations,” he said.
‘Makkah of junk’
The report estimates that US e-waste shipments may have made up about 6 percent of all US exports to the country from 2023 to 2025. After China banned imports of foreign waste in 2017, many Chinese businesses shifted their operations to Southeast Asia, using family and business ties to secure permits.
“Malaysia suddenly became this mecca of junk,” said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network.
Containers were also sent to Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and the UAE, despite bans under the Basel Convention and national laws, the report added.
In countries receiving this US e-waste, “undocumented workers desperate for jobs” toil in makeshift facilities, inhaling toxic fumes as they strip wires, melt plastics and dismantle devices without protection, the report said.
Efforts to control illegal imports
Authorities in Thailand and Malaysia have stepped up efforts to curb illegal imports of US e-waste.
In May, Thai authorities seized 238 tons of US e-waste at Bangkok’s port seized 238 tons of US scrap at Bangkok’s port while Malaysian authorities confiscated e-waste worth $118 million in nationwide raids in June.
Most of the facilities in Malaysia were illegal and lacked environmental safeguards, said SiPeng Wong, of Malaysia’s Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism.
Exporting e-waste from rich nations to developing nations strains local facilities, overwhelms efforts to manage domestic waste and is a form of “waste colonialism,” she said.


Trump heads to Asia aiming to make deals with Xi

Trump heads to Asia aiming to make deals with Xi
Updated 23 October 2025

Trump heads to Asia aiming to make deals with Xi

Trump heads to Asia aiming to make deals with Xi
  • US President Donald Trump is set to embark on a major trip to Asia this week with all eyes on an expected meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that has huge implications for the global economy

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is set to embark on a major trip to Asia this week with all eyes on an expected meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that has huge implications for the global economy.
Trump said on Wednesday he was making a “big trip” to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first visit to the region since he returned to the White House in a blaze of tariffs and geopolitical brinkmanship.
Much of the trip remains shrouded in uncertainty. The White House has given almost no details, and Trump has warned that his anticipated sit-down with Xi in South Korea may not even happen amid ongoing tensions.
But Trump has made it clear he hopes to seal a “good” deal with China and end a bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has caused global shockwaves.
The host nations are meanwhile set to roll out the red carpet to ensure they stay on the right side of the unpredictable 79-year-old, and win the best deals they can on tariffs and security assistance.
Malaysia and Japan
His first stop is expected to be Malaysia for the October 26-28 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — a grouping Trump skipped several times in his first term.
Trump is set to ink a trade deal with Malaysia — but more importantly to oversee the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, as he continues his quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“President Trump is keen to see the more positive results of the peace negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday.
The US leader may also meet Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties after months of bad blood, officials from both countries told AFP.
Trump’s next stop is expected to be Tokyo where he will be able to meet conservative Sanae Takaichi, named this week as Japan’s first woman prime minister.
Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.”
At the same time, Trump wants Japan to halt Russian energy imports and has also urged Tokyo to follow Western allies in increasing defense spending.
Xi in South Korea?
But the climax of the trip is expected to be in South Korea, where Trump is due to arrive on October 29 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit — and potentially meet Xi.
The first meeting between the two leaders since Trump’s return to office could smooth over the trade war between Washington and Beijing — but Beijing’s rare earth curbs have also infuriated Trump.
Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and imposed fresh tariffs, before saying he would go ahead after all. But he added on Tuesday that still “maybe it won’t happen.”
He said on Wednesday that he hoped to make a deal with Xi on “everything” and also hoped the Chinese leader could have a “big influence” on getting Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war.
Analysts warned not to expect any breakthroughs.
“The meeting will be a data point along an existing continuum rather than an inflection point in the relationship,” said Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution.
South Korea, seeking its own trade deal, is reportedly considering the rare step of awarding Trump the Grand Order of Mugunghwa — the country’s highest decoration — during his visit.
North Korea will also be on the agenda. The country fired multiple ballistic missiles on Wednesday, just days before Trump was due to visit.
Trump has said he hopes to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un following several meetings during the US president’s first term, but there has been no confirmation of reports that the White House was looking at a new meeting this time.