The devastation of the DANA disaster in the Valencian Community continues, now in the form of sludge and sludge, which hundreds of affected residents and volunteers are working to eliminate. Meanwhile, rescue teams continue their work to search for missing people and identify and evacuate bodies in the area. At the same time, political tension is increasing more and more and the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, is now pointing the finger at the government of Pedro Sánchez. But how did we get to this situation? What was the chronology of the fateful hours that led the Valencian people to this tragedy?
Even if the worst happened on Tuesday the 29th, AEMET warned on Monday of the arrival of a DANA the same week. On the same day, October 28, the General Directorate of Public Functions, which depends on the Ministry of Finance of the Valencian Government, decided to suspend an event at 12:10 p.m. for the issuance of civil service accreditations “taking into account the forecasts of the AEMET heavy rain warning This same Monday evening, torrential rains began.
Tuesday October 29
- 06:42: The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) updates its warnings, which already predicted rain. The orange alert extends to the south of Valencia and the Ribera region.
- 07:00: The Valencia Port Authority decrees the closure of the port.
- 07:31: AEMET raises the alert level to red in the northern interior area of the province. From now on, updates from the agency will be given from time to time, notably on social networks and via its website.
- 07:36: New update from AEMET, which extends the red alert to the south coast of Valencia. Water from morning storms begins to accumulate in the Plana de Utiel Requena, with rains of more than 300 liters per square meter.
- 8:04 a.m.: The agency warns of “torrential rain”, with accumulations of 90 liters per square meter in one hour. They begin to urge caution and not travel unless “strictly necessary.” “The danger is extreme,” they wrote on Twitter. At that time, the warning would be in effect until midday Tuesday, but it continues to be updated from time to time and red alerts spread to different regions.
- 09:20 a.m.: AEMET insists: “The danger is significant, even extreme, in certain regions. » More and more images of flooded streets are circulating in towns like Catadau. Torrential rains are moving north, to areas like Carlet or Alfarp. New update in a few minutes to extend the map with the territories in red notice.
- 10:03 a.m.: The validity of the alert is extended from 8:04 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. “Do not approach canals or boulevards. Indications are occurring,” the agency warns. Situation monitoring and alerts on regional television in Punt.
Throughout Tuesday morning, Carlos Mazón organizes different events and meetings outside of DANA.
- 10:30 a.m.: Generalitat emergencies report the first rescues of people on board vehicles in Ribera.
- 11:30 a.m.: The Poyo ravine in Chiva is overflowing30 kilometers from Picanya. This then caused the flooding of the South Horta region.
- 11:45 a.m.: Special hydrological alert notice of the Emergency Coordination Center in the municipalities crossed by the Magro River.
- 12:00 p.m.: The Magro river overflows while passing through Utiel. The University of Valencia suspends its activity.
- 12:20 p.m.: Hydrological alert from the Emergency Coordination Center in the municipalities of the Poyo ravine area, which runs through Torrent, Picanya, Paiporta, Benetússer, Sedaví, Alfafar, Massanassa and Catarroja. The warning comes due to the increased flow at RibaRoja del Túria.
- 12:27 p.m.: AEMET publishes a video in which its spokesperson, Rubén del Campo, again warns the population: “Red notices represent an extreme danger, and while we were filming this video, they spread from the province of Valencia to the province of Valencia. also Málaga”. At that time, the municipalities lacked electricity and telephone coverage.
- 1:00 p.m.: Carlos Mazón appears at a press conference and publishes a tweet with the content of said appearance. He assured that the storm would subside around 6 p.m. This tweet is then deleted.
- 2:00 p.m.: The Provincial Deputation of Valencia closes its centers of work and sends its workers home due to the “very high risk for the population”.
- 5:35 p.m.: The Emergency Coordination Center publishes a new special notice hydrological alert for the Magro and Júcar rivers. The Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar warns of overflows in areas near rivers. AEMET extends the red alert.
- 6:30 p.m.: The Poyo ravine in Torrent overflows and reaches zero point. Picanya, Paiporta, Benetússer, Sedaví, Massanassa and Catarroja are flooded. From here and with the arrival of night, the consequences are already catastrophic with bridges torn away by the force of the water and thousands of people trapped on the V-30 and in shopping centers. At that time, the boulevard was experiencing an elevation of 2,000 cubic meters per second. Four times the normal flow of the Ebro.
- 8:12 p.m.: The Generalitat launches an SMS alert to residents so that they do not go out into the streets or travel within the province.
- 8:36 p.m.: The government receives the UME’s request for action, according to Minister Ángel Víctor Torres during a press conference.
- 9:30 p.m.: Carlos Mazón appears for the first time after the disaster.
That night, in addition, telephone 112 begins to crash due to the number of calls received.
But it was the next day, Wednesday October 30, that at first light in the morning, the destruction could be observed in the villages of the Horta Sud and Utiel-Requena regions and during his first appearance before the media that day , Mazón already spoke of the confirmation of “lifeless bodies”. At that time, an approximate figure was still unknown due to the difficulty for emergency forces to access affected areas.
However, this Monday, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, assumed responsibility for crisis management to the central government and said that at 3:21 p.m. on Tuesday he had requested the activation of EMU and demanded “all possible help”. Mazón also reported the Hydrographic Confederation.
