Vocabulary

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Transcript

Spain’s King Felipe, Queen Letizia, and government officials were given a furious reception by enraged flood survivors during their visit to Valencia. The royals were pelted with mud and heckled by a crowd in the eastern Spanish region, where deadly floods have killed more than 200 people.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez FLED from the scene during an official visit to Paiporta, one of the hardest-hit areas where more than 60 people perished and thousands of livelihoods were lost.

 
Confronted with anger and frustration, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited the town of Paiporta near Valencia. More than 60 people died here after flash floods turned its streets into rivers.

A hostile crowd greeted them with cries of Asesino or “killer” in English, and some protesters threw objects and mocked them, laying bare a mounting sense of abandonment.

Local Victim, Female: “The dead are still in our garages. Our neighbors are looking for loved ones. We just want our politicians to come and help. We just want help to cope. Felipe, you should not feel proud of being the king; you should feel proud of your people who have acted in solidarity with us — everyone except all of you.”

 
More than 200 people have died in the floods, and thousands have lost their homes, destroyed by the wall of water. Many people still don’t have drinking water five days after the flood struck.

Help has been slow in reaching where it’s most needed, and many believe the tragedy could have been avoided if flood warnings had been issued in time.

Local Resident, Female: “There are real stories of people that didn’t even get the alarm when they were already drowning in their garage and thankfully made it alive. But, you know, surviving, they said, ‘We didn’t even have the alarm until we got out, and we received the alarms that heavy rain was coming, but nobody was warned.'”

Volunteer, Male: “We need a lot of help. As volunteers, we can clean, but we need military help with this. This is wild. On TV, you only see 1% of what’s going on. If you walk the streets of Paiporta, it looks like a war zone.”

Most of the cleanup of the layers and layers of mud and debris has been done by residents and thousands of volunteers. The full extent of the devastation is still unknown.

Angel Victor Torres, Minister of Territorial Policy: “We do not know how many people are still missing, and we have to be absolutely rigorous about that. The number of people who have died is already very high, and we will use our official channels to issue any new information we have.”

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was meant to join the king and queen on their Valencia tour, but he fled the scene as soon as the angry crowd appeared.

Questions

Flash Flood, Flooding. King Felipe and Queen Letizia received a warm and jubilant welcome in Paiporta, Valencia. Did residents shower them with flowers?

Hurricane, Typhoon, Storm. Why did the Spanish monarch visit Paiporta? Was it to boost his prestige?

Drought. Why were residents outraged?

Tornado. Could the catastrophe been mitigated?

Earthquake, Tremor. The local municipalities and residents can manage the situation by themselves. Is this right or wrong?

Volcanic Eruption. Are things as bad, not as bad, or worse than it appears?

Snowstorm. Has the government talked about the economic implications as a result of the flood?

Freeze, Frost. Will there be a political fallout?
 
 
 
Search and Rescue Effort. What are some natural disasters that people are concerned about?

Save, Rescue. Have things gotten better, worse, or remained the same? What are people’s views about “climate change” or “global warming”?

Clean up. What can you say about politicians (and monarchs)?

Recovery. What might happen in the future?

Rebuilt. What could or should people, governments, and businesses do?