The president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, began his speech by assuring that he was going to recognize mistakes and assume responsibilities. In his first intervention without a time limit, the head of the Consell has not admitted any mistake.
The blame has been distributed between the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ), Aemet and the Government Delegation. Not a single responsibility from his Emergency Department, to any of his departments or to himself, who was absent from the management of the catastrophe from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., when the Integrated Operational Coordination Center, Cecopi, arrived.
elDiario.es has analyzed the president’s key statements about his participation and that of his counselor Salomé Pradas. His speech has not been free of falsehoods, half-truths, omissions and inaccuracies.
Mazón: “Our own experience was not enough. Everything that happened exceeded our expectations. “Ordinary protocols have not worked in an extraordinary situation.”
Omission. There are evacuation protocols in case of floods and this was done by town councils in the Ribera Baixa on October 29, where it was proposed that the population go up to the first floors and not circulate.
Mazón: “Our forecast system was overwhelmed by the water level itself. There is only one meter in the entire Poyo ravine.”
Omission. The sensors in the ravines are not used to give alerts, at most they are to compare information. According to the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, “there is no regulation, you have no management margin, when the sensor detects the water you already have it on you.” “You cannot leave flood management in the hands of what a sensor says, which is also extremely vulnerable,” they add.
Mazón: “In the flood about which we do not have the necessary information. The best that could be done was done with the information that was available. The Emergency center reports on the situation and coordinates resources based on the data.”
Fake. It is evident that the previous decisions and the day of the tragedy were not appropriate. In the 2019 DANA, the Integrated Operation Coordination Center (Cecopi) convened 24 hours before the storm. In the second DANA on November 13, Carlos Mazón himself launched three alerts through Es-Alert and suspended classes in all schools. He did not do so on October 29.
Mazón: “The events were unprecedented. The Buseo dam went from 10% capacity to 117% and the Forata dam the same. “Eight tornadoes, trees and heavy vehicles affected Carlet, Turís or Catadau.”
Omission. The Carlet tornado occurred at 1:00 p.m. on October 29. Mazón kept his agenda and went to eat. The Cecopi is convened at 3:00 p.m. and after the councilor visited Carlet.
Mazón: “The protocols designed and tested in the past were applied, they did not work. All of this was carried out as it had always been done, but the catastrophe surpassed our protocols. Because it showed that our warning systems failed”
Fake. The protocols were not applied. In other storms it was acted differently. The Emergency law and the flood plan were not partially complied with. The Cecopi was convened late when the red alert was in effect from 7 a.m.
Mazón: “I was fully aware of what the situation was like. There was nothing to catch up on or slow down the meeting.”
Fake. Various sources present at Cecopi explain to elDiario.es that Mazón had to be updated on everything and that this further slowed down the sending of the mass alert to mobile phones.
Mazón: “There was a meeting of the Government delegation at 8:30 am. There was no emergency member there. The Government did not cut any roads and there were already trucks trapped.”
Fake. According to Valencian regulations and the Emergency Plan for floods, the Generalitat Valenciana is the one that exercises powers at level 1 and 2. At that time there was level 1 of Emergencies and the Government delegate met as a precaution, to have everyone coordinated and warned. the organizations that, in the event that level 2 of emergencies were decreed, would have to participate. The Government delegate does not have the power to summon any autonomous body.
Mazón: “At 11:50 a.m. the head of Aemet said in À Punt that the red alert is until 6 p.m. I myself base myself on those statements, which is why I assured that the storm was going to dissipate. I admit that, it was a mistake. The removal of that video was intended to eliminate information that could be confusing as it had become obsolete.”
Half truth. He removed it the day after, when it no longer had any relevance. The events had occurred. He only removes it when they show it to him on social networks and his statement becomes evident.
Mazón: “I kept my agenda because the counselor and the delegation were there. When they told me that the dam was overflowing is when I left for Cecopi. I caught a lot of traffic due to the weather situation. It was not necessary for anyone to pass information to me or delay the meeting.”
Omission. Not a word about his meal from 2:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. with journalist Maribel Vilaplana. He hasn’t explained anything about those blank hours. Only that between 6:45 p.m. and the time he arrived late at Cecopi, he was involved in a traffic jam due to high traffic.
Mazón: “Information was available at the time of the Magro River and the filling of the Forata dam. “There was fragmented information about the Poyo ravine”,
Fake. There are up to 61 emails and warnings about the flow, rain and alerts about the Barranco del Poyo between 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., when Carlos Mazón appeared in the Cecopi.
Mazón: “At 12:20 he notified the riverside municipalities of the Poyo ravine. Emergencies notify the Poyo riverside municipalities to create their Cecopal. Before 12:30 p.m., all riverside municipalities were notified and provided with information from the Confederation. Then there is a drop in flow”.
Fake. City councils consulted by elDiario.es such as Sedaví assure that they are not aware of this notice.
Mazón: There was a “two and a half hour information blackout” by the CHJ.
Lie. There were at least four emails and dozens of notices from the CHJ around Chiva and Riba-roja. Emails with data on the spectacular volume of water in that ravine at 4:37 p.m., 4:50 p.m., 4:57 p.m. and 5:02 p.m., according to the emails held by elDiario.es. 62 of those notices arrived while Mazón was eating. At 5:00 p.m., the CHJ representative at Cecopi – while Mazón was at lunch – verbally notified the increase in flows. As of 5:30 p.m., there had already been warnings about the risk of floods.
Mazón: “The confederation present at Cecopi did not say anything about Poyo. It is only the Confederation that is obliged to report when the flow increases above 150 cubic meters per second. Faced with such a spectacular rise, no one said anything, neither the president nor his collaborators. Only by email”
Doubtful. The information to Civil Emergency Protection will be known from the recordings if Cecopi spoke about the situation in the Poyo ravine. According to sources from the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, “the sensor in the Poyo ravine is one more element in the set of all the mechanisms that can help carry out flow monitoring and its information was available in real time. on the CHJ website until the current took it away. It is the Emergency Coordination Center that has to monitor this type of channels as it establishes its own Special Flood Plan, collecting all the available information.”
Mazón: “They do report the Magro flood and the system continues to monitor it. Around 7:45 p.m., a warning was given that the Forata dam could overflow. It is at that moment and not before that the Es-Alert system is taken into account. It has never been used in the Valencian Community and is not in the protocols. The regulations only contemplate the sending of these messages in dam breakages and chemical industry accidents.”
Fake. At 6:00 p.m. the system was already ready, as confirmed by the workers of the contracts published by elDiario.es. Furthermore, if it is only due to a dam break, on the afternoon of November 13 they sent three alerts through Es-alert. There was no dam break or danger from the chemical industry. The Es-Alert system was tested in 2023 and the current Government was aware of it.
#Mazóns #lies #omissions #appearance #DANA
