This Wednesday, before six in the afternoon, the members of the emergency committee (Integrated Operational Coordination Center, known as Cecopi) of the DANA of Valencia, among whom are regional and state representatives, received a message. A second meeting was urgently called after the one at 9 a.m., this time at six p.m., given the certain possibility that AEMET would raise the rain warning on the coast to red from Valencia.
In addition to the fact that a large amount of water was expected, it was raining and humid to the ground zero, with a precarious sewage system that was not draining and threatened to bring water and mud back to the surface. Some municipalities, such as Aldaia, due to the lack of normality and the lack of repair of valves and infrastructure, had installed sandbags to block the passage in the canals during this second storm attack.
Connected online, Cecopi began to face the rain that was coming and for which AEMET announced red notices from nine o’clock in the evening. The lesson, with more than 200 deaths, was learned by the Generalitat, which, in Cecopi, on October 29, only issued the alert at 8:12 p.m., when the tragedy had already occurred. On this occasion, with the same red notices and the same information as that fateful day, the President of the Consell took a different decision, namely restrictions on vehicles and people and alerts on cell phones. The fact that PP baron Juanma Moreno had expelled and alerted the population of Malaga a few hours before had also put a mirror and more pressure on him.
The atmosphere at Cecopi was somewhat tense this Wednesday afternoon. On the one hand, Mazón had focused on his appearance at the Corts Valencianes the next day (it was finally postponed to Friday at 11:30 a.m.) and the Minister of Justice, Salomé Pradas, was present during his interrogation, on being impeached according to the pools, and identified as the sole person responsible for the measures by his own boss, who insisted that he was not a member, let alone president, of this committee. Administratively, this is the case, because Mazón refused to assume “exclusive command” of Cecopi as permitted by law. If he did so, he would become directly legally responsible, which for the moment remains the responsibility of his advisor.
The direction of these committees is done in unison, often without clear authority or executive speed: the fear of taking sides can muzzle guidelines and leadership. In fact, ideas or suggestions are collected without there being an official report and without them being approved, as is necessary for them to be valid, during subsequent sessions.
On two occasions, the government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, stressed this Wednesday the urgency of sending the alert to mobile phones. “We’ll have to send it, won’t we?” he insisted several times, according to eyewitnesses. In this second DANA, on the part of the Generalitat, no one doubted as in the Cecopi of October 29, when the indecision of Pradas on what to do and how – and the absence of Mazón, during a three-hour lunch with a reporter – installed bad government in the only case that could have protected citizens.
The answer at this second moment was affirmative, yes, it should be sent, but it was not done instantly, even if time was running out. It was parked and progress was made on other logistical matters.
In Cecopi, where command belongs to the Generalitat, the debates continued beyond this hour, in a situation where minutes count. Advance notice, according to all the experts consulted, is essential in the event of risks for the population, particularly during rush hours or when they have to make logistical decisions such as changing plans, not undertaking a trip or leaving the car.
However, the Emergencies of the Generalitat, which this time clearly indicated that they had to restrict the movement and movement of people – and therefore assume the criticism in case the episode was not so serious or on the part of those who see its interference in daily life – waited until 7:50 p.m. to send to the cell phones of all Valencians that all educational, sports and day center activities have been suspended, in addition to mobility restrictions in private vehicles until noon the next day. According to protocol, at the end of the meeting, the deputy director of emergencies wrote it up and sent it with Minister Pradas.
At that time, many mayors, including the capital, had already decided to suspend classes and informed their citizens, even hours before. At that time, it was also reported that the plenary session in which Mazón would give explanations had been postponed. Finally, an hour and shortly before the start of the extreme risk episode, the Es-Alert was sent to cell phones. In some cases it was received under the title “Presidential Alert”, in others in Spanish and Valencian and some citizens also received it in English. According to sources from the Generalitat, technicians cannot touch the header of the text, but only its content, and these different modalities could depend on the configuration of the phones.
There was a second warning Wednesday evening via the Es-Alert system. It was sent to around twenty villages, the most affected by DANA, in which it was reported that “given the vulnerability of the area and the expected accumulation of rain, it is recommended to stay in high areas homes or in elevated areas. according to the Emergency Cabinet. In Cecopi, at nine in the morning, it had already been decided to send a first Es-Alert alert to this same zero point to warn of “restrictions on the circulation of private vehicles in the municipalities affected by the floods of Rambla del Poyo, Rio Magro”. and neighborhoods of the south of Valencia”, an alert which ended up being issued an hour before its entry into force, at five o’clock in the afternoon, and to which was added this second of eight o’clock the following -noon.
President Carlos Mazón tweeted at 8:11 p.m., after Cecopi, the rules that came into force imminently, after 50 minutes, using a literal part of the decree that is full of the idea that responsibility lies with Salomé Pradas and that she did not go unnoticed publicly: “It is the order of the department: I command…”. That is to say that what is decided at Cecopi is ordered by Pradas, like what he ordered (or not) during that of the 29th. A clue as to how he will construct his speech this Friday at the Corts. explanations of citizenship.
