The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, assured this Friday in an interview with Antena 3 that “he was warned all the time, from the beginning, through the usual channels” of the risk that DANA implied in the Valencian Community, where they have More than 200 people died in this week’s floods.
“It is quite common here to have red alerts, unfortunately,” Mazón said last night on television, who is being highly criticized because the alerts that the Generalitat sent to cell phones did not reach the population until 8:12 p.m. on Tuesday, when there were already hundreds of people trapped by the storm in the region.
“The meteorological revolution that occurred after 6 p.m. was reported to us from the Confederation and from AEMET, which changed the forecasts,” Mazón attributed last night in that interview, alluding to the fact that “that is why the forecasts we gave first thing in the morning “They did not foresee the meteorological revolution that followed.”
“The notices through the usual channels were permanent; throughout the day, almost hundreds, to City Councils, entities, even the media,” said Mazón, who states that the “generalized SMS” that reached the population’s cell phones after 8 p.m. was only sent as ” a last resort”, “linked to the worst of possible evils”. According to Mazón, at that time on Tuesday, when many people were already without a way out, it was considered that there could be a “worse” scenario: that “the Forata dam would have overflowed.”
“That was the moment to use that element of communication more [el SMS del sistema ES-Alert] complementary to that of that day and the previous days,” said the president of the Generalitat.
AEMET issued the red alert at 7:36 a.m.
As we have been saying this week, The first AEMET notices were broadcast at 7:36 a.m. on Tuesdaywhen the Meteorological Agency already warned that the warning was at red level (the maximum alert) in the Valencian Community. Half an hour later, AEMET reported the following: “Southern coast of Valencia: Rains of torrential intensity. Accumulations of more than 90 l/m² in one hour that can cause floods and floods. Be very careful! The danger is extreme! “Do not travel unless strictly necessary.” His messages were repeated throughout that day.
However, in a press conference held that same Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. at the Palau de la Generalitat, Mazón stated: “According to the forecast, the storm is moving towards the Serranía de Cuenca, so it is expected that around 18:00 reduce its intensity throughout the rest of the Valencian Community.”
Paradoxically, the Valencia Provincial Council did close its work centers due to DANA at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29 “due to very high risk for the population”, just when Mazón assured that the storm was subsiding and six hours before it was decided. Send the alert by SMS to the general population.
Given the attacks and questions that AEMET has received these days, the Meteorological Agency published a statement this Thursday in which it clarified that this organization is in charge of “making predictions”, while it is up to the authorities to “adopt measures.” Scientists have warned, for their part, that questioning the AEMET puts us all in danger.
This same Friday, the spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Clare Nullis, highlighted in a press conference the role that the AEMET has played in the case of Valencia, “which has been constantly issuing warnings throughout the entire week”. The spokesperson also stressed in that same press conference from Geneva the importance of “reducing greenhouse gas emissions” to try to reverse climate change, and of “ensuring that early warning systems reach everyone.”
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