The best thing to do in the face of a climate disaster like DANA, which killed 155 people, is to prepare. For this, you must have an effective alarm system. And for many, it failed this time. At 8:12 p.m., an alert reached cell phones of all those who were in the province of Valencia.
“Protection alert due to heavy rain and as a preventive measure Any type of travel within the province should be avoided“, we read in the message. It was the first time that this system was used in the Valencian Community. In 2023 it was used in Madrid, which for some was excessive zeal.
This time, many made the mistake of waiting too long. The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) assured that the assessment of the danger to raise the alert “corresponds to autonomous administrations“On the other hand, he explained that the work of AEMET is the observation and preparation of climate forecasts. In addition, it provides support services to air and maritime navigation.
The meteorological agency has been reporting the approach of the atmospheric system since October 24, and from then on it began a continuous updating process via official communication channels with relevant organizations.
This was reported by social networks and informative notes On October 25, 26 and later on October 27, a special warning of undesirable phenomena was issued which remained active on Monday and Tuesday, 28 and 29, in which it was stated “a high degree of probability of torrential raingreater than 70%.
A van leaves a garage where eight people were found dead
Finally, on Tuesday, October 29, the increased risk of the weather phenomenon and impact areas was reported early in the morning. The information was updated regularly from 7:31 a.m. to 5:49 p.m. after alerting of several warnings ranging from orange, significant risk, to red, extreme risk. The system limits an area and this time it says special attention to the province of Valencia.
STANDARDIZED RESPONSE
For his part, Carlos Mazón, president of the Generalitat Valenciana, recalls that the system is standardized with the Es-Alert system, based on Cell broadcast technology, to send messages to a large number of devices.
This massive broadcast of messages is done by radio waves and reaches all receiving devices. in the form of SMS without compromising confidentiality. These alerts reach 90% of mobile phones because, being relatively recent, they require operating systems with a version of iOS 15.6 or higherequivalent of the iPhone 6, launched 9 years ago now. As for Google’s Android operating system, network alerts will reach models with Android 11 or higher.
The massive alert that was sent to the population. EE
The operation relies on the emergency intervention centers available to Civil Protection throughout the national territory and which have access to the information system, known as Cell Broadcast Entity (CBE). Those responsible for sending the notice can define certain key parameters both of the message itself and of the distribution: type of risk, observed or expected event, affected area, period of validity and the message to send to citizens.
The big criticism circulating on the networks is that this system has not been activated before. The warnings were clear and the timing was very precise. However, these alarms can also be used for other alarms like cold or heat waves in which the moment is more diffuse. In any case, as MITECO recalled, it is the autonomous communities that are responsible for pressing the button.
