The Minister of Justice and Interior of the Valencian Community, Salomé Pradas, was already discussing the possibility of sending the ES-Alert alert at 7:15 p.m. last Tuesday, October 29, during the CECOPI meeting, which began at 5:00 p.m. and to which the president of the Generalitat did not join until 7:30 p.m.
This same Thursday, Minister Pradas stated in statements in À Punt that he was not aware that this alert system existed until 8:00 p.m., when a technician informed him of it. However, an audio made public this Thursday by the Hora 25 program on Cadena SER refutes these words.
The Minister of Justice and Interior and head of emergencies, Salomé Pradas, the Government delegate in Valencia, Pilar Bernabé, and a technician from the Generalitat participated in the conversation. It is this technician who, when detailing the operation of the alert, which was finally sent at 8:12 p.m. when flooding had already occurred in some municipalities and the first fatalities, made it clear that it was a special alert from the ES-Alert system. .
Sources familiar with the conversation cited by Cadena SER assure that the conversation took place at 7:15 p.m., that is, at that time the authorities were perfectly aware of the severity of the rains and their possible consequences. In it, they talk about the possibility of alerts being sent to mobile phones that are in the area or that pass through it, an hour before that notice was finally sent.
“It is important that we are redundant,” insists the Generalitat technician, who explains that, in addition to sending the message, we will speak with Valencian public television. À Punt to send the message as well as with traditional radio stations. It also explains how anyone “in transit” through the affected areas “will receive the message.”
The ES-Alert system notification is characterized by emitting a loud and constant alarm beep, different from that used by the rest of the applications or functions of the phones, as well as a more persistent vibration. Upon receiving the alert, the Civil Protection message appears directly on the device screen. This system was developed at the initiative of the Government after the natural disasters of the Filomena storm and the eruption of the La Palma volcano, adapting the emergency warning models present in other countries and began its testing phase in November 2022.
RTVE denies that the minister did not have the UME at her disposal since noon
Another of the arguments expressed this Thursday by the counselor has been dismantled by information from RTVE. Early in the morning, the SER revealed that the Government delegate offered the resources of the Military Emergency Unit on three occasions, something that was denied by the person responsible for emergencies in the Valencian Generalitat.
“I deny that she offers the deployment,” the counselor assured À Punt. However, RTVE has broadcast some images in which at 12:45 p.m., she acknowledges to her team that the UME “has made itself available to travel.”
It is not until 2:00 p.m. when the councilor admits the sending of troops, although only to the Valencian town of Utiel. The call for the first Cecopi meeting was delayed until 5:00 p.m.
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