three weeks later After the DANA tragedy in Valencia, Vice President Teresa Ribera appeared at the Congress of Deputies to give explanations for her contested management. Bank made a false statement the notices sent by the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar – an organization that depends directly on his ministry – to defend that there was no “information blackout” in the alerts on the Poyo ravine, the deadly epicenter of floods. The minister indicated that between 4:13 p.m. and 6:43 p.m., nine notices were sent. However, seven of them referred to rainfall datathat is to say, they do not account for the rising waters, which caused the tragedy.
“If the rain accumulates at the top, it ends up overflowing at the bottom,” Ribera simply warns. As has already been published, the Júcar Confederation did not report the flooding of the rambla de Poyo during these two hours, in which the flow went from 28.7 m3/s to 1,686 m3/s. At that time, the agency did not inform the Emergency Department of the evolution of the flow of the ravine. Ribera, however, tried to hide this circumstance by including the rain warnings sent during these two hours to show that the Generalitat chaired by Carlos Mazón (PP) was warned.
Concretely, the Júcar Confederation sent two notices to Civil Protection (4:37 p.m. and 4:50 p.m.) to sound the alarm. because of the rain accumulated in Chiva. Additionally, emails were sent at 4:57 p.m. and 5:02 p.m. due to rain on Rambla del Poyo in Riba-Roja; at 5:27 p.m. due to rain in Chiva, and at 5:57 p.m. again due to rain on Rambla del Poyo in Riba-Roja. In no case due to increased flow. The Generalitat already responded a few days ago that these warnings referred to precipitation and “do not warn of the real risk of overflow”, so it was “inappropriate” to maintain this with data from a rain gauge located in Chiva or on the Rambla. del Poyo in Riba-Roja, the emergency center should have estimated the flow that was going to circulate along the rambla.
The reality is that for two and a half hoursbetween 4:13 p.m. and 6:43 p.m. the Confederation did not inform the Emergency Department of the evolution of the flow of the ravine.
Teresa Ribera presented herself to Congress after several weeks of absence from DANA leadership. On the very day of the tragedy, October 29, she was in Brussels, where she held various meetings with MEPs in relation to her candidacy for the post of European Commissioner. It was not until the next day that he returned to Madrid. Meanwhile, Ribera focused more on her examination as commissioner than on dealing with the fateful aftermath of DANA.
Without self-criticism, the minister has always held the Valencian Generalitat responsible for the tragedy. Thus, he declared that protocols and alerts are “useless if the one who has to respond does not know how to do it”, thus avoiding any responsibility of the National Meteorological Agency (AEMET) and the Júcar Confederation.
PP spokesperson Esther Muñoz refuted Ribera’s statements about rain warnings and said there had been no warning from the president of the Júcar Confederation during the CECOPI meeting .
“Climate change”
Ribera also mentioned the climate changewhich has been blamed on increased rainfall. “We need to prepare better,” he summed up. In this context, he also urged the parties “not to waste a minute in undermining the credibility of science or institutions.” Ribera attacked “misinformation” which he said “calls into question” this credibility.
“We were available before and after, working for Valencia,” he defended, despite his notable absence. At no time did he give any explanations for his trip to Brussels.
Previously, during the control session, the Popular Party had already described Ribera as a “minister on the run”. “Really, for 21 days, you haven’t had time to set foot in Valencia?” said PP spokesperson Miguel Tellado. Ribera, visibly upset, assured that “from day one” she “worked” in his office.
