Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
PARK CITY — A Park City teenager who became close friends with a foreign exchange student from Spain is hoping to raise funds for him and others devastated by deadly flash flooding in Valencia, Spain, earlier this week.
Pablo Chinchilla, of Spain, studied in Park City in 2022, during his sophomore year of high school.
"I didn't really know him at the beginning of the year," said Jansen Jacobson, of Park City. But the two quickly became close friends.
"We hit it off, and we were inseparable, and we'd hang out every day," Jacobson said.
"Now he's part of my family, too," Chinchilla said.
The two teens kept in touch and even visited each other once Chinchilla finished his exchange program in Utah. Jacobson and other friends visited Chinchilla's hometown last Christmas, and Chinchilla spent this past summer in Utah.
'Everything was floating'
But earlier this week, what started as a normal day turned quickly into tragedy, Chinchilla said.
"It was cloudy but it wasn't raining the streets were completely dry," he said. But within minutes, several feet of water flooded the streets.
"Everything was floating and cars were floating," he said.
Chinchilla's hometown of Alfafar, near Valencia, Spain, was left destroyed after the floods, and it became one of the deadliest weather events in Spanish history. He said, thankfully, he and his family are safe, but he knows others who were not as lucky. Officials have said 200 people died in the floods and hundreds are still missing.
"We have been the last five days cleaning the streets, cleaning houses, helping each other," Chinchilla said. "The police, the firemen, the army (can't) come inside the town."
Volunteers from Valencia and other parts of Spain are walking miles to try to help people in neighboring towns.
Jacobson said when he heard about the devastation left in the storm's wake, he became emotional. Despite being thousands of miles away, Jacobson said he's doing what he can from Utah and created a GoFundMe* account to help his friend and others directly impacted.
"If it were up to me, I would be out there in the city helping them," he said.
Chinchilla said he has "no words" and is grateful for his friend's support and the people of Utah.
Jacobson said he hopes people in Utah will use this time to reflect on the people they care about.
"Even if it's not toward Spain and helping them, just take a moment to reflect and remember the good moments with people and your family and the people that you love," he said. "I just think right now it's a good time to, you know, open your heart for other people and try to help our community, even if it's in a different country."
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
