A multinational force of aid workers, alongside soldiers from the ITO alliance, finally arrived in the fallen Solaren city of Torrence in the early hours of this morning. Describing a “horrific” humanitarian crisis, they have been met with ongoing and extensive flooding, munitions fires and thousands of dead bodies. Several hideouts have begun to be found with a small “limited” number of survivors.
The force managed to break through the city walls after nearly a week of work to lower water levels, allowing them to see the full scale of the disaster, caused by Storm Adis after it made landfall last week. Amassed outside Ramsel on Friday evening, it has been a slow and treacherous journey for the force of around 2,000 into the besieged city. A further 25,000 survivors were then found on the outskirts of Torrence as forces made their way towards the border, joining others in camps and being treated for a range of medical concerns. Many have been burnt from explosions in oil fields and farms. But most overwhelming has been the scale of deaths – with nearly 175,000 expected victims expected.
Reports being given back to ITO headquarters in Ramsel have described the dire scenes – with many members of the force, including aid workers, finding the scale of the disaster almost incomprehensible. “What we are seeing is nothing short of one of the biggest humanitarian disasters in history. This is not just some kind of mass casualty event, it’s the destruction of an entire city” said one. Commanders have been documenting the scale of the challenges, stating that the Vlaanderen government will require “long-term international assistance” to deal with the crisis.
Gallian leaders are continuing to speak about a support package, but currently no agreement has been made and there remains little alignment about how to deal with the scale of the damage – not just in Torrence and the Lierland, but also in the Lier forest and Petit-Pays and Clayquot in Belmonté. A potential summit could be called to push conversations further – although no timing has been agreed as yet.
