Grian Serrano, a Venezuelan merchant, has endured two of his country’s most devastating natural disasters in the same coastal region.
Twenty-six years after escaping the catastrophic 1999 mudslides, Serrano miraculously survived the recent powerful earthquakes that ravaged La Guaira, the very state where he faced his first ordeal.
The 46-year-old, bruised around his left eye and across much of his body, is now recovering from the terrifying ordeal he shared with his 8-year-old son and 69-year-old mother last Wednesday.
The three were buried beneath rubble and twisted steel when their eight-story apartment building collapsed in Caraballeda, La Guaira, the state hardest hit by the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors.
“It is a miracle from God,” Serrano said, recalling how he clawed through debris in total darkness to rescue his family with the help of two passersby.
The two earthquakes have claimed more than 1,700 lives and injured over 5,000 people, according to government figures. Hundreds of buildings were either destroyed or damaged, predominantly in La Guaira. Significant destruction was also reported in the capital, Caracas, and in the states of Carabobo, Miranda, Aragua, and Yaracuy.
La Guaira, known as Vargas until 2019, is Venezuela’s second-smallest state but holds immense strategic importance. Located approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Caracas, it hosts the nation’s primary international airport and its second-largest seaport. Its roughly 440,000 residents are largely low-income, relying on tourism, commerce, and employment linked to the airport and seaport.
Speaking from his brother’s home in Caracas, Serrano recounted the terror he felt last week, his thoughts inevitably returning to December 15, 1999.
On that day, he was jolted awake by the screams of their household employee, who had witnessed a nearby river overflowing after days of relentless rain. From his window, he watched in horror as the swollen river swept away trees, massive boulders, and vehicles with people trapped inside, banging on the windows and pleading for help.
Driven by instinct, Serrano fled his fourth-floor apartment with his mother, sister, and nanny, climbing to the roof. From their precarious vantage point, they watched floodwaters engulf the building’s lower floors as massive trees slammed into its columns, fearing it would collapse like others nearby.
Their fears eased at dawn as the rain stopped and the floodwaters began to recede. After waiting in vain for rescue, the family navigated through mud, rocks, debris, and fallen trees to his grandparents’ home in a nearby neighborhood.
The 1999 floods and landslides, infamously known as the “Vargas Tragedy,” killed 782 people, left another 2,000 missing, and affected approximately 250,000 residents, according to Ángel Rangel, who led rescue operations as director of Venezuela’s Civil Protection agency.
Still shaken by the devastation left by the recent earthquakes, Serrano believes La Guaira — bordered by the Caribbean Sea and the Ávila mountain range — is under a curse. “It isn’t normal for such horrible things to happen in the same place,” he stated.
Rangel, a disaster specialist, offers a different perspective. The engineer explained that the buildings which collapsed in La Guaira were constructed on terrain formed over centuries by sediment carried down from the surrounding mountains.
“That type of terrain is particularly risky for construction,” Rangel said, adding that building in such areas requires “strict adherence to seismic-resistant engineering standards” adopted after the powerful 1967 earthquake that struck Caracas. Many of the buildings that collapsed in La Guaira were built in the 1970s, and it remains unclear whether they met those standards.
After losing his home and all his belongings for a second time, Serrano said he does not know what comes next.
But one thing is certain: He will never live in La Guaira again. “That’s twice now,” he said. “Sometimes I think if there’s a third time, it’s going to win the battle.”
