“No one wants to come, they are afraid of another landslide”: a year after the flood in La Comuna and La Gasca, fear of inhabitants persists

The silence that lives in the streets of La Comuna de Santa Clara de San Millán and La Gasca is interrupted by the sound of the engines of the vehicles that travel through these streets in the north center of Quito.

When cars don’t pass, you don’t hear anything else, the calm is unique. Nothing was the same again since the afternoon of that January 31, 2022, when a roar warned of a flood that took everything with it.

A year later, at the epicenter of that natural disaster, on an ecuavolley court, hang two large banners with the faces of the 27 fatalities.

Under one of them, several bouquets of flowers are tucked away and paint the area with color, which is mostly kept in a gray tone.

The construction of a warehouse and dressing rooms for athletes has work suspension signs issued by the Metropolitan Control Agency of the Municipality of Quito.

Several bricks remain buried in the sand of what was the floor of the court. Of the emotion that was lived there in each game only the memory remained.

‘The neighborhood has not recovered, people are afraid. Before there was more work, some left’

At the foot of the field, under a mountain that connects to the neighborhood by a rustic path, there are still several backhoes that resisted the force of the alluvium and did not move.

One of these machines is on the ground that received most of the material dragged by the El Tejado ravine.

Several of the buildings still maintain metal plates that hide the reconstruction process. The gray work is a pattern in the view from the mountain.

Manuel Orosco, owner of a carpentry workshop in the sector, pointed out that the field was built in an invasion, that is, on a property taken over by a group of friends who decided to use vacant land.

However, the owner of that lot would have appeared, therefore, the construction was suspended.

“It was no longer the same as before, yes, there are people who do not accept that this was a disgrace and who respect that people died there. There are some people who want to live from what they lived before, from volleyball, and they cling to the fact that the court still exists. On weekends they only do sports, before this was much more, there were complete families, sales and programs were made, there were many people, now it is 10% of what it was before, ”said the carpenter.

The Municipality of the capital reported that on January 26 they carried out a helicopter overflight with the authorities of the Santa Clara de San Millán commune to verify the state of the El Tejado ravine and the surrounding areas.

This, to indicate the cleaning work they do in these places.

They also announced that aid will be delivered to widows and other women who lost relatives during the flood.

This, in addition to the help in household goods, appliances and construction that they announced was delivered.

The flood melted La Comuna and La Gasca, two Quito neighborhoods with different realities and origins

However, there are stories like that of Néstor Cochambay, who assured that he only received four quintals of cement, nothing more.

He had to invest close to $8,000 to rebuild the apartment that ended up completely destroyed, since his house is located on José Berrutieta street, right where the El Tejado ravine ended and carried the flood with it.

He also acknowledged that they received a refrigerator, washing machine and kitchen.

But the reconstruction of the department said that it ran on its own.

They had to rebuild walls, lay tiles, paint the walls, change the door, among other adjustments. Now the other problem is that they don’t want to lease.

“No one wants to come, they are afraid that there will be another landslide and they do not rent, it has already been a year thrown away. They are not taking risks, they are still afraid, ”she emphasized.

Thus, one year after the catastrophe, the La Comuna de Santa Clara de San Millán neighborhood has not managed to fully recover.

For some residents it is as if twelve months had not passed, because they still keep the horror scenes very present in their memory. (YO)