The ravages of the DANA catastrophe in the Valencian Community continue, now in the form of sludge and sludge, which hundreds of affected residents and volunteers work to eliminate. Meanwhile, rescue teams continue their work to search for missing persons and to identify and remove bodies in the area. At the same time, political tension is growing more and more and the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, now points his finger at the Government of Pedro Sánchez. But how did we get to this situation? What was the chronology of the fateful hours that led the Valencian people to this tragedy?
Although the worst came on Tuesday the 29th, on Monday the AEMET warned of the arrival of a DANA that same week. That same day, October 28, the General Directorate of Public Functions, which depends on the Ministry of Finance of the Valencian Government, decided to suspend an event at 12:10 for the delivery of civil service accreditations “in view of the AEMET’s forecast of alert for heavy rains.” That same Monday night, torrential rainfall began.
Tuesday October 29
- 06:42: The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) updates its warnings, which already predicted rain. The orange alert extends to the south of Valencia and the Ribera region.
- 07:00: The Port Authority of Valencia decrees the closure of the port.
- 07:31: AEMET raises the warning level to red in the northern interior zone of the province. From this time on, updates from the agency will be given every so often, especially on social networks and through its website.
- 07:36: New update from the AEMET, which extends the red alert to the southern coast of Valencia. The water from the early morning storms begins to accumulate in the Plana de Utiel Requena, with rains of more than 300 liters per square meter.
- 08:04: The agency warns of “torrential rains”, with accumulations of 90 liters per square meter in one hour. They begin to ask for caution and not to travel unless it is “strictly necessary.” “The danger is extreme,” they write on Twitter. At that time, the warning would be in effect until 12:00 on Tuesday, but they continue to update every so often and the red alerts are spreading to different regions.
- 09:20: AEMET insists: “The danger is significant, and even extreme, in some regions.” More and more images of flooded streets are circulating in towns like Catadau. The torrential rains move towards the north, in areas such as Carlet or Alfarp. New update in a few minutes to extend the map with territories in red notice.
- 10:03: The validity of the alert is extended from 08:04 to 18:00. “Do not go near channels or boulevards. Indications are occurring,” warns the agency. Monitoring of the situation and warnings on regional television À Punt.
Throughout Tuesday morning, Carlos Mazón has different events and meetings outside of DANA.
- 10:30: Generalitat Emergencies report the first rescues of people in vehicles in the Ribera.
- 11:30: The Poyo ravine in Chiva overflows30 kilometers from Picanya. This subsequently caused the flooding of the Horta Sud region.
- 11:45: Special hydrological alert notice of the Emergency Coordination Center in the municipalities through which the Magro River passes.
- 12:00: The Magro River overflows as it passes through Utiel. The University of Valencia suspends its activity.
- 12:20: Hydrological alert from the Emergency Coordination Center in the municipalities of the Poyo ravine area, which passes through Torrent, Picanya, Paiporta, Benetússer, Sedaví, Alfafar, Massanassa and Catarroja. The warning occurs due to the increase in flow in RibaRoja del Túria.
- 12:27: AEMET publishes a video in which its spokesperson, Rubén del Campo, warns the population again: “The red notices pose extreme danger, and while we were making this video they have spread from the province of Valencia to the province of Valencia as well. Malaga”. Around that time, the municipalities are running out of electricity and telephone coverage.
- 1:00 p.m.: Carlos Mazón appears at a press conference and publishes a tweet with the content of said appearance. He assures that the storm would subside around 6:00 p.m. That tweet is later deleted.
- 2:00 p.m.: The Valencia Provincial Council closes its centers of work and sends its workers home due to “very high risk for the population.”
- 17:35: The Emergency Coordination Center issues a new special notice hydrological alert for the Magro and Júcar rivers. The Júcar Hydrographic Confederation warns of overflows in areas close to rivers. AEMET extends the red alert.
- 18:30: The Poyo ravine in Torrent overflows and reaches ground zero. Picanya, Paiporta, Benetússer, Sedaví, Massanassa and Catarroja are flooded. From here and with the arrival of night, the consequences are already catastrophic with bridges torn away by the force of the water and thousands of people trapped on the V-30 and in shopping centers. At this time the boulevard had a rise of 2,000 cubic meters per second. Four times the normal flow of the Ebro.
- 8:12 p.m.: The Generalitat launches an SMS alert to residents so that they do not go out into the streets or move around the province.
- 20:36: The Government receives the request for action from the UME, according to Minister Ángel Víctor Torres at a press conference.
- 9:30 p.m.: Carlos Mazón appears for the first time after the disaster.
That night, in addition, telephone 112 begins to collapse due to the number of calls received.
But it was the next day, Wednesday, October 30, when with the first lights of the morning the destruction could be observed in the towns of the Horta Sud and Utiel-Requena regions and in his first appearance before In the media that day, Mazón was already talking about confirmation of “lifeless bodies.” At that time, an approximate figure was still unknown due to the difficulty of emergency forces in accessing the affected areas.
Now, this Monday, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, has shouldered the responsibility of crisis management in the central government and has stated that at 3:21 p.m. on Tuesday, he requested that the EMU be activated and demanded “all possible help.” Mazón has also pointed out the Hydrographic Confederation.
#chronology #DANA #Valencia #alerts #AEMET #actions #Generalitat
