The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, used to defend the delay in the actions of his Emergency team on DANA day an alleged “information blackout” of the Government between 4:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. elDiario.es already denied this thesis with the numerous emails from the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation and the calls from Aemet to the emergency center during those hours where they were warned of the rising flow in the Poyo ravine. Where there was an absence of data was in the instruments that the Valencian Generalitat itself has to measure and follow the ravines and ravines, among them the Poyo, which as of 5:00 p.m. on October 29 became a death trap.
As this newspaper reported, the Mazón Emergency team, specifically the Provincial Firefighters Consortium of Valencia, sent the forest firefighter unit of the Generalitat of Buñol to measure the scale of the Poyo ravine on October 29 at 1:00 p.m. hours near Chiva. But they only spent two hours measuring. At 3 p.m., as elDiario.es learned from forest fire sources, the team was sent to the base. Those professionals, who if they had stayed measuring until 5:30 p.m. could also have warned of what could happen downstream, were at the base between 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and were finally sent home. This unit based in Buñol was not sent to rescue either, the same sources regret.
The team of forest firefighters that came to measure the Poyo ravine was “surprised” when they were removed, since in their first scale measurement of the Poyo ravine, the ravine was carrying almost a meter of water at 1:30 p.m., according to the data collected by the forest firefighters. As can be seen in the photo revealed by elDiario.es, the volume of water was already significant as it passed through the A3 highway. That same bridge was seriously damaged after 6 p.m. Between 5 and 5:30 p.m., the volume of water shot up to more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, according to information from the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation. On page 4 of the attached document you can see the spectacular flooding of the Poyo ravine on October 29.
But the measurements on the Poyo ravine are not the only ones questioned by the forest firefighters and those who were sent to measure on October 29. As this newspaper reported from Emergency sources, the Alzira forest fire brigade unit was sent at 1:01 p.m. to measure the Magro River near Carlet, which was the other major cause of the catastrophe when it overflowed in several municipalities. But the forest firefighters consulted by this newspaper explain that they were sent to the Riu Sec boulevard. They did not spend much time collecting data on the scale of this boulevard, since they were required to provide rescue services. At 1 p.m. in Carlet the situation was already very complicated, while the president of the Generalitat continued with his agenda.
In the case of the Requena unit that had to go to measure the Magro River at the height of the Pontón district at 2 p.m., according to sources from the forest firefighters, “they could not reach their destination because the A3 highway was already “It was collapsed due to the storm.” The team is going to rescue a person with reduced mobility, the same sources add. The Sinarcas team that is sent to Utiel, according to Emergencies, would have stayed at the base that day, according to the forest firefighters. “At 9:30 in the morning the Magro River was already full of flow, we don’t understand why they reacted so late,” they lament.
The regulations, according to the 2010 flood plan and the Forest Firefighters Practice Manual to which elDiario.es has had access, obliges the Generalitat to send its regional operators to carry out flow readings in boulevards and ravines when there is a forecast of floods. “The Forest Firefighters Unit [UBF] “You will receive the instruction to read the scales assigned to you (all or some of them), when it is necessary to know the evolution of the flow due to the intensity of the rains,” reads the training document for the officials, reproduced in this information.
According to the manual of action of the forest firefighters, in the section “Operation during the rainy episode”, “the UBF will receive the instruction to read the scales assigned to it (all or some of them), when it is necessary to know the evolution of the flow due to the intensity of the rains. The data will be recorded on the Form for reading the water level on scales (model is attached in this practice) and will be communicated to the Consortium Headquarters, which in turn will transfer them to the Emergency Coordination Center (CCE). With the data obtained, the CCE will give instructions in order to know the evolution of the flood peaks.” With this information, Emergencies would have had its own data to rely on, in addition to that provided by the CHJ and Aemet.
The manual also establishes the actions of the forest firefighter in the event of rain and at what flows the alarm should be raised. “A key element for the forecast is knowing if the thresholds that determine whether the rains are especially intense are exceeded (if they exceed 40 l/m² in one hour, 50 l/m² in four hours or 100 l/m² in 12 hours) . To this end, it is very important that monitoring is carried out from the first moment, trying to have information at regular intervals of time, information that must be transmitted to nearby municipalities and to the Generalitat Emergency Coordination Center (CCE). Thanks to this, we can have real-time information that is essential for the adequate forecasting of emergency situations, especially in the river basins and ravines, where events happen very quickly.”
If you have more information about this matter, you can send us data confidentially to [email protected]
#Mazón #Government #withdrew #scale #measurement #equipment #Poyo #ravine #Chiva #p.m #day #DANA
