The alert from the Generalitat Valenciana automatically reached all cell phones in the province of Valencia at 8:12 p.m. this Tuesday, when many citizens were already stuck on the roads, on the ground floor, in urbanizations and even in the shopping centers like Bonaire. This is the worst meteorological tragedy since the Tous marsh in 1982. The provisional death toll is at least 62 dead.
A source close to the ins and outs of regional emergency management affirms that the Generalitat reacted “late”. Even recognizing that there are “unpredictable components” in a DANA, the same source believes that the Minister of Justice, Salomé Pradas, belatedly convened the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi): “They should have done it earlier “. It is the organization that is installed in this type of situation at the Emergency Coordination Center of L’Eliana and which anticipates possible scenarios and the necessary resources and coordinates with those responsible for roads and other infrastructures to improve with certainty the answer. Another security source said there was “obvious political negligence” and a “total disaster” due to “lack of foresight.”
The automatic message sent by the Generalitat at 8:12 p.m. warned of “heavy rain” and asked people to avoid traveling on the road. However, for many drivers and residents in the province of Valencia, especially in the regions of Ribera and Horta Sud, it was already too late. A feeling of chaos, even collapse, has set in throughout the province of Valencia and in the region of Utiel-Requena, the main affected areas. Ten hours earlier, Aemet had warned of the red alert situation in which the province of Valencia found itself and warned of “extreme danger”.
Furthermore, at 5:30 p.m., the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar warned of the increase in the flow of the Magro River, “which could reach 1,000 m3/s downstream of the Forata reservoir.” For this reason, he activated the hydrological alert and informed the municipalities bordering the Magro River and the Júcar River “from Algemesí to the mouth of Cullera”. This flow, they explain, “implies that widespread overflows can occur in areas close to the river”.
Hundreds of citizens waiting to be rescued contacted media such as regional television in Punt live, desperately recounting their own situation or that of their loved ones. Social and family networks were immediately activated and numerous Dantesque videos circulated via WhatsApp messages.
While the Generalitat Valenciana only issued recommendations until the automatic alert at 8:12 p.m., several public and private institutions put their members on alert about what was to come. During a press conference held at 1:00 p.m. at the Palau de la Generalitat, Mazón said: “According to forecasts, the storm is heading towards the Serranía de Cuenca, so it is expected that around 6:00 p.m. its intensity will decrease everywhere. the rest of the Valencian Community.
It wasn’t like that. After 9 p.m., President Carlos Mazón presented himself at the Emergency Coordination Center, located in Eliana, to reiterate the request to the population not to go out on the roads, especially in the province of Valencia, epicenter of the catastrophe.
Much earlier, around 5:45 p.m., Adif had already interrupted the circulation of high-speed trains. The Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat established the emergency level for the storm in situation 2 of the special flood plan of the province of Valencia at 7:30 p.m., when the Magro river had already overflowed in the municipalities of Carlet and Algemesi.
Collapse of 112
The 112 telephone number of the Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat collapsed due to the avalanche of calls for help. Although it never stopped working (it gave a dial tone), it took a long time to answer calls. The Generalitat Emergencies warned during the night that 112 had not “fallen” but that the volume of calls was “high”. Subsequently, the telephone number 900 365 112 was activated to help the relatives of the missing.
Shortly after seven in the morning this Wednesday, the Generalitat sent an automatic alert message to all cell phones reiterating the request to avoid traveling by road. At 10:24 a.m., a third automatic alarm sounded. This is the civil protection mobile alert “Es-alert”, a massive and direct alert system to the population which sends a message to each mobile phone with a sharp and repetitive beep.
Responsibility for coordination lies with the Valencian Security and Emergency Response Agency, headed by the regional secretary, Emilio Argüeso, and supervised by the Ministry of Justice and Interior, headed by Salomé Pradas. And finally, to the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón.
The official agenda of the head of the Valencian Security and Emergency Response Agency, available on the GVA Oberta transparency portal, details four meetings throughout the morning, apparently unrelated to the impending disaster.
The worst disaster since Tous’ marsh
The provisional death toll, at least 62 officially confirmed deaths, places the historic disaster of DANA well above the personal and material damage caused by the Tous marsh in 1982, with eight deaths.
Although there is still no official count of the dead and missing – emergency services cannot physically access many flooded areas – the first voices critical of the Generalitat’s management are have already been heard.
Joan Baldoví, spokesperson for Compromís, said that “today is not the day to ask for responsibilities, because there is some”. However, Baldoví highlighted the role of public services “in disaster situations and warned: “The days of responsibilities will come.”
For its part, Intersindical Valenciana openly criticized the “inefficiency” of Carlos Mazón in the management of DANA which, according to the union, put “the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers at risk”.
“Third World management”
Representatives of civil society also spoke. Andrés Boix, professor of law at the University of Valencia, has been one of the most critical voices regarding the management of the disaster. Boix, in statements to this newspaper, believes that the emergency of this Tuesday was “treated in exactly the same way as the flood of 1957 was treated by the Franco authorities, who did not inform the population.”
“It is absolutely incredible and regrettable that the alert from the Generalitat comes at 8 p.m. when the floods have already occurred, catching many people returning from work, work or home, but without being able to protect themselves,” says -he.
Boix criticizes “Third Worldist management” worsened by infrastructure and town planning which “since the Tous marsh in 1982, it seems that they have not improved at all”. “Many responsibilities must be exercised because public officials must be required to have a minimum of competence and professionalism,” he adds.
Professor UV denounces that the political leaders of emergency management “were lacking and should have coordinated and guaranteed the information of citizens”. In addition, it also alludes to the judicial aspect of the disaster, with the controversial antecedent of the Tous marsh and compensation.
