The dramatic provisional balance of these floods actually raises doubts about a possible delay on the part of the regional government in alerting the population to return home without delay or avoid going out due to the approach of the rains.
As it usually does when there is a risk of this type, the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet) had issued on Tuesday morning – precisely at 7:31 a.m. – a “red alert” for the Valencian Community in which the notice was unequivocal: “Great caution! The danger is extreme. »
The situation gradually deteriorated during the day. However, it was not until 5:00 p.m. when the regional body in charge of coordinating the actions of relief organizations in case of emergency, Cecopi (Integrated Operational Coordination Center), was installed in Valencia. And the alert message sent by Civil Protection to the inhabitants of Valencia asking them not to leave their homes (“Avoid any type of travel in the Valencia region! »), which emits a shrill sound, rang after 8:00 p.m. According to the newspaper The CountryIn the case of certain localities among the most devastated by the waters, the message was sent even after 9:00 p.m. By then it was too late.
These few lost hours were crucial because thousands of people remained at their workplaces or left their homes in the afternoon and then found themselves stranded on the roads at the mercy of the raging floods. Some of the victims died on the road. Others, who were luckier, survived, but after being on the verge of death.
Could this delay in disseminating the alert to the population have influenced such a high number of victims? The Minister of Territorial Policy, the socialist Ángel Víctor Torres, did not respond directly to this explosive question, limiting himself to remembering the moment of the Aemet alert and the sending of the Civil Protection SMS.
The president of the regional government, Carlos Mazón, a member of the Popular Party (PP, right-wing opposition), which is the first affected, had not clarified this point on Wednesday afternoon, but there is no doubt that the question will be asked. to him in the coming days.
