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When I was a child, in October 1957, an event left me impressed: the overflowing of the Turia River and as a consequence a tremendous flood in the city of Valencia. The result was around 300 deaths and extensive material damage that took years to overcome. My Valencian family, especially my aunts Teresita and Remediets, were very affected by what they experienced.
Valencia periodically suffered floods and since the 14th century, works were carried out to reinforce the channel of the Turia River, to try to control its passage through the vicinity of the city, but they were not enough. The solution came with the so-called “Southern Plan”, creating a new channel to the outskirts. It took almost twelve years, it cost a lot of money (part of it with citizen contributions through a mandatory postage stamp) but since then the periodic catastrophic floods in the city have ended.
In our country we are already accustomed to terrible floods, especially in the fall. In the Valencian Community, in Murcia, in Vizcaya, in the urban belt of Barcelona, in the Ebro basin, in Malaga… The images of the destruction and the information from the victims cause a great impact on public opinion, but to The few weeks the debate focuses on the possible compensation or aid or the declarations of catastrophic zones and it ignores looking for causes and solutions and so on until next time.
No structural measures of an urban nature are proposed, such as channeling, maintenance and cleaning of channels, construction of sufficient and adequate reservoirs, cleaning and maintenance of urban sewage…etc.
Fortunately, in October 2005, the UME (Military Emergency Unit) which has been doing a great job with its interventions in forest fires, floods, snowfalls or earthquakes, which is resorted to immediately and responds quickly.
It is much more costly economically and politically to adopt structural measures, which, although they do not prevent damage, can largely alleviate their effects.
There are voices, surely well-intentioned, that attribute these catastrophes to the effects of climate change, global warming. It is true that climate change has a lot to do with the “Danas”, hurricanes, the advance of sea level on the coasts, or in the opposite direction with desertification or forest fires. But facing this reality seems distant or ineffective to many local, regional or state authorities, who may think, more or less explicitly, that it is inevitable that these catastrophes occur with certain frequency in the autumn and that they can do little. And that’s it. In the best of cases, the “environmental” ideological discourse is maintained and the specific responsibilities of local, regional or state government are forgotten.
It is undoubtedly much more economically and politically costly to adopt structural measures, which, although they do not prevent the Danas, can largely alleviate their effects.
We must think about the future, govern rationally, anticipate catastrophic risks and learn from dramatic experiences.
At this point, the Administrations have sufficient information regarding catastrophic risks due to flooding. They sufficiently know where and how overflows occur, the state of the sewers and channels, which homes and developments, legal or illegal, are in places prone to flooding, which channels are dry for many months of the year. year, when there are torrential rains they fill up, the construction of warehouses, garages, homes, shops or work centers that flood again and again because they do not maintain a sufficient level of height with respect to the street… and thus many more irregularities .
Correcting these situations requires urban planning plans that take into account the accumulated experiences of flooding, although in the short term they may annoy or harm neighbors, making public investments, launching collaboration projects between municipalities or between public administrations, having sufficient staff and specialized in conservation tasks and also inspection, prepare and publicize local emergency plans and immediate response for traffic, for pedestrians, to especially serve the elderly and children.
It is not easy, it is not cheap, it is not immediate or miraculous. But it means thinking about the future, governing rationally, anticipating catastrophic risks and learning from dramatic experiences. That’s what mayors and councilors, regional councilors and presidents and of course the national government are for. Lamentations, press conferences asking for help or minutes of silence for the victims are not enough.
#flooding #absolute #preventive #ineffectiveness
