From the warnings of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) and the Department of National Security to the recalled and criticized sentence of the President of the Government last Saturday, before the reception in the mud and the cries in Paiporta, the chronology of the crisis caused by DANA goes from understanding and coordination in the first hours of the tragedy (also promising) to the exchange of reproaches in the days following this dramatic October 29. The sequence of the early hours of this Tuesday, which caused so much controversy on the following dates due to the lack of forecasts before DANA, it is not heard without prior warnings of heavy rain: Tuesday 29 07.31. The Aemet declares a red alert in the northern interior of Valencia and, a few minutes later (07:36), also extends the warning to the northern coast of Valencia, which will last – it says – the whole day of the 29th and Wednesday On the 30th morning, the agency warns on its networks that “the danger is significant, even extreme, in certain regions”. 07:45. The Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat establishes situation 1 due to rain in the Ribera Alta and warns of the red level alert on the south coast of Valencia. In its 10:00 update it extends the red level to the entire Valencian coast and the northern interior. 08:00. The Department of National Security, a department dependent on the Office of the President of the Government which advises the president on this issue, publishes a last minute note, after cross-referencing data from Aemet and Civil Protection, warning that “DANA will produce today precipitation which could be accompanied by storms and gusts of very strong winds, especially in the south and east of the peninsula ” Related news standard Yes National Security warned La Moncloa of DANA twelve hours before. the presidency by Ana I. Sánchez Montero. a crisis committee took place Tuesday evening in Moncloa with Bolaños, Robles, Marlaska, Ribera and the government delegate in Valencia. That morning, the central government and the regional executive knew the maximum alert situation (the red level) which would allow their DANA to pass. in the south and southeast of the peninsula, particularly in the province of Valencia. From this moment, and until the alert, there is a chain of events preceding the tragedy. These are the most relevant: 12:45 p.m. The Minister of Justice and Interior, Salomé Pradas, went to the Emergency Center to monitor the storm and reported, as recorded by the cameras of Spanish Television, the offer of the Military Unit to Emergency (UME) after meeting with the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé. . 15.21. The Generalitat formally requests the deployment of the EMU in Utiel-Requena due to the rains, but ignores the risk of flooding (it will know later, after 6:30 p.m.). 5:00 p.m. The Valencian Executive convenes a meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) in response to the storm. The President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, arrives two hours late to the meeting, after 7 p.m., after meeting the journalist Maribel Vilaplana at the restaurant “El ventorro” to offer her the direction of the regional television channel À Punt. 6:43 p.m. The Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ), dependent on the Ministry of Ecological Transition, sent an email alerting that the flow of the Poyo ravine had skyrocketed and already reached 1,683 m3/s. The Generalitat assures that during the Cecopi meeting “at no time did the CHJ alert the sudden increase in flow”. Eyes were turned towards the Forata dam. 7:30 p.m. The Emergency Coordination Center decrees the level of emergency due to the storm in situation 2 throughout the province of Valencia. 20.11. The Generalitat launches a geolocated Civil Protection alert to citizens due to flooding. In an interview with À Punt, Pradas admits to having discovered at 8 p.m. that the Generalitat had a mass alert system. Shortly before, he had received a call from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán. According to the Generalitat, they spoke about Forata. According to the government, the secretary contacted her only to offer all necessary means, after the late warning on cell phones (at that time significant flooding was already occurring) and aware of the severity of the storm, coordination between government and government. The Generalitat Valenciana operated during the DANA night, as demonstrated by the communications to which ABC had access: Around 9:45 p.m. The first vice president, María Jesús Montero, calls the four regional presidents affected by the storm (Carlos Mazón, Emiliano García-Page, Juanma Moreno Bonilla and Fernando López Miras) of the crisis committee established in the National Security offices to know its provisions. At around 10:45 p.m. Pedro Sánchez was informed by his office of the seriousness of the situation and, upon returning from his official trip to India, he sent WhatsApp messages from Oman to the regional leaders concerned “reiterating that the government was ready to help them as soon as possible.” possible.”necessary”. 10:50 p.m. Second phone call from Montero to Mazón (in the first they could not communicate due to the fall of the Telefónica telecommunications poles). During this conversation, the leader asked Montero to deploy the Civil Guard and the army. 11 p.m. La Moncloa communicates on the constitution of the crisis committee to “coordinate the intervention and assistance work”. Understanding of those first hours after the tragedy collapsed in the hours and days following, as both administrations began to downplay their degree of responsibility for what happened. in the case of the Central Executive, the arrival of “all that is necessary” was not achieved on Wednesday 30 at 10:00. Defense reports the deployment of 1,034 EMU soldiers in the province of Valencia to work jointly with emergency services. Around 9:00 p.m. First criticism of the government. The President of the Generalitat defends that all protocols have been followed to inform the population and attributes responsibility for coordination to the “Directorate of Civil Protection of the Spanish Government” Thursday 31 07:00. The government responds to Mazón. The Ministry of the Interior publishes a press release in which it dissociates itself from the sending of the mass alert, which was the responsibility, as it recalls, of the Generalitat. At level 2, “this corresponds to the regional authorities”, he specifies. 5:15 p.m. Message from Mazón at 6:00 p.m. The government approves the sending of 500 army soldiers at Mazón’s request: 300 from the Land, 100 from the Air and 100 from the Navy, which are added to those of the EMU. The troops will join Friday Friday 1 noon. The exchange of accusations continues. The head of Defense, Margarita Robles, after declaring that “the 120,000 soldiers of the Army” would be there if necessary, said: “It was a frustration not to be able to work in more places because the Generalitat Valenciana limited its action to UME and only in the Utiel-Requena region.” After the continuous exchange of reproaches over the next three days, Sánchez on Saturday uttered one of the most memorable sentences so far from the tragedy: Saturday 2 1:30 p.m. Pedro Sánchez: “If he needs more resources (Carlos Mazón), he should ask for them. There is no need to prioritize certain municipalities over others or prioritize tasks. It takes priority when resources are lacking. And that’s not the case. This doesn’t have to happen. Therefore, if the Valencian Community needs more personnel, machinery, financing or technical advice, it just needs to ask and it will be provided.
