At 10:00 a.m. on October 29: the State Meteorological Agency updates the red warning and extreme danger for a large part of the province of Valencia. Initially informs that the notice will remain in force until at least 6:00 p.m. “Floods are occurring,” he says in a first message on reinforcing the planned provisions in response to Aemet’s warnings that fluctuated from “yellow, to orange to red” and “alternatively” depending on the areas of the northern, southern and inland coasts of the province most affected by the episode. At 12:00 yesterday: Aemet (the State Meteorological Agency) in the Valencian Community raises the active warning in the area of the Valencian Community also for today, Wednesday, October 30, and maintains that the danger remains extreme. Other regions remain under orange notice as shown on the map updated on October 29 at noon. At 12:20 on Tuesday, October 29: The alert is given at this time by the Emergency Coordination Center (CEE) of the Generalitat Valenciana at 12:20, when it warns in a message through its official channels of the increase in the flow of the Rambla del Poyo as it passes through Ribarroja after the warning that the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ) has already given. In fact, in its X account, the CHJ reported at 11:55 a.m. on Tuesday of the first ravines overflowing The flooding of the Albaida River was significant and “large accumulations” were recorded in the entire Magro River area, specifically, which could reach a thousand cubic meters per second downstream of the Forata reservoir. The Magro River overflowed early in the afternoon in Utiel. Members of the Military Emergency Unit moved to the area. The Emergency Coordination Center (CEE) advised the population to stay away from areas near the river and issued a special hydrological alert notice due to the increase in flow in the river, while notifying all municipalities of the situation. riversides of the Magro river and the Júcar river, “from Algemesí to the mouth in Cullera.” 4:30 p.m.: the Minister of Justice and Interior of the Valencian Government, Salomé Pradas, convened the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi). This is the body that is installed in this type of situation in the Eliana Emergency Coordination Center and that anticipates possible scenarios and necessary resources and coordinates with those responsible for roads and other infrastructure to improve the response. The messages to the press from Cecopi began to arrive at 4:46 p.m. and the meeting took place at 5:00 p.m. At this time, the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, reports that the Government of Spain has activated the Military Emergency Unit (UME) at the request of the Generalitat to deal with the situation caused by DANA in the Utiel area (Valencia). At this time there were already flooded towns and others at extreme risk. The accumulated rainfall records, it would later be known, shattered all records. At 7:14 p.m. that meeting continued and communications problems were reported due to the storm. At the end, around 8:30 p.m., it was the Deputy Director of Emergencies Jorge Suárez who reported on the rainy episode. The second assessment was by Suárez himself with President Carlos Mazón around midnight. The regional leader also made statements at 0:40 a.m., when he regrets that there are lifeless bodies and that there are corners where the emergency services cannot enter. 8:10 p.m.: during these hours, the information comes from news programs on the regional television channel A Punt, municipal chats and calls for prevention, but it is not until 8:10 p.m. when a message leaves Valencians in shock. At that time there were already dozens of people trapped and affected. And the messages on social networks and calls to the radio stations were already desperate requests for help. 112 began to receive hundreds of calls. Communications began to fail and so did the electricity. The Emergency Coordination Center issued a massive Civil Protection alert to mobile phones urging the population to “avoid any type of movement” through the province of Valencia. It warned of heavy rain. The alarm reached the citizens shortly after eight in the afternoon. It was the first time that this resource was used in the Valencian Community to alert of a critical emergency situation. Many had no capacity or room for maneuver to avoid the tragedy. Many roads were flooded and dozens of cars were trapped on the roads. Today, those responsible for Cecopi have pointed out, given the barrage of criticism about the delay in receiving this message, that it is “the last resort”, because “they cannot be used just like that, they are protocol and their use is regulated.” “They reach thousands of people and poor manipulation of this information can generate the opposite effect to what is intended.” But, they added at a press conference this Wednesday morning, “the issuance of notices was constant.” “We work with plans, with procedures that clearly regulate a cadence of warnings that increase in their level of risk depending on the information we receive.” “There has been a constant issuance of notices to city councils so that they could adapt their infrastructure and all integrated agencies, all of this before notifying the population that it is the last warning given in the face of the imminent risk,” they said from the Center. of Valencian Emergency Coordination. 11:03 p.m.: Carlos Mazón encourages people to keep trying with calls to 112. Also to combat hoaxes that are making a dent in the minds of many people on social networks. More than 500 incidents were received and the system, although technically active, “collapsed.” 7:10 a.m.: Second message to citizens on their mobile phones to avoid travel. Aemet maintains the red warning with maximum danger for today. Rainfall records have broken all records in recent hours. In places like Chiva, an entire year’s worth fell in eight hours and the torrent effect was devastating in Requena and Utiel.
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