Three representatives of official organizations and a minister came out this Saturday to deny various episodes of the story that for two and a half hours the president of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón, used in the Cortes to try to avoid responsibilities after his disastrous management during the DANA that the Last October 29, it left more than 200 dead in Valencia.
One of the arguments most repeated by Mazón is the alleged information blackout that occurred by the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ) between 4:13 p.m. and 6:43 p.m. in relation to the Poyo ravine. As elDiario.es advanced, the 62 notices that the CHJ sent to the Generalitat’s Emergencies between 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., when Mazón was absent from the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), demonstrate that the statement is false. Of the 62 emails sent, eight were related to the ravine.
Late this Saturday, Mazón responded to the statements of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (Miteco), but in his attempt to discredit it, he contradicted a statement issued minutes before by his own Department of Justice.
Marlaska’s denial
Along these lines, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, denied this Saturday that on October 29 there was any “information blackout” by the Government in relation to the flooding of the Poyo ravine, as Mazón assured.
“There were all, there were all the necessary and precise warnings and on a permanent basis. It was a permanent communication and evidently in no period of that time, at no time, was there any blackout, but rather timely, necessary and precise information that continued over time,” said the minister upon leaving the meeting of the Operational Coordination Center. Integrated (Cecopi), in the Emergency Center of the Generalitat, which coordinates the work to repair the damage caused by DANA.
Denial of the EMU
Although on this occasion Mazón did not make reference to the UME in his speech on Friday in the Corts, on November 13 in the plenary session of Congress, the PP deputy and former Valencian president Alberto Fabra, reproached the minister that, “just like In other tragedies”, such as the earthquake in Morocco, the Military Emergency Unit (UME) was not “present” from minute one, since it believes that the military deployed “late” in the towns most affected by DANA.
This Saturday, the General Head of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), Javier Marcos, assured that his troops began to deploy in the province of Valencia on October 29 at 3:41 p.m., “hours before receiving official orders.” when they saw that “the situation was getting downright difficult” due to the flooding that was beginning to occur due to the deadly DANA.
At a press conference at the Moncloa Palace, Marcos released some images to support the thesis that the UME was in the area “from minute one.” “Although we were previously aware that the situation was getting worse, at two in the afternoon we learned that the Valencian Community decreed operational situation 1. We had already been alerted for hours and, as soon as we see that the situation is getting frankly difficult, much sooner from any elevation to another level, we leave,” he said.
He assures that the first UME vehicle left the Bétera base “at 3:41 p.m.” and that it took almost two hours to arrive in Chiva. “They say that the truth suffers, but does not perish,” proclaimed the general, emphasizing that the soldiers who performed “heroic acts” to save people on that journey “do not deserve the information that is being seen.” “There are sectors of the population for which we arrived late, but we were in those rescues,” Marcos emphasized.
Aemet’s denial
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) clarified this Saturday that a report was issued at 7:36 a.m. on October 29, DANA day, in which it warned of rainfall of 180 liters per square meter (l/m2) in areas of Valencia in 12 hours, an amount that showed a threshold that could be exceeded but not a maximum level of rain, according to sources from this public body.
In that same meteorological report, an explanatory note was included that assured that, in addition, this accumulation could occur in a period of two or three hours, forecasts that led Aemet to activate the red warning for rain, according to sources from the entity.
This is clarified after the ‘president’ of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, maintained this Friday, during his appearance in Les Corts to explain the management of DANA, that “Aemet’s forecast, as stated in its official part sent to Emergencies at 07:36 in the morning, establishes a probability of rain of a maximum of 70% in different areas of the province of Valencia and a maximum of precipitation of 180 l/m2 in 12 hours.
Aemet has highlighted that in the aforementioned report – valid until 00:00 on October 30 – there is no reference to a maximum rainfall, since these documents always reflect thresholds, which can be reached or exceeded. Furthermore, in a subsequent bulletin, sent at 9:41 a.m., the red notice is extended to practically the entire province of Valencia and specifically refers to a threshold of 180 l/m2.
In his speech this Friday Mazón insisted that the Aemet only warned of the forecasts for “torrential rains”, but not of “brutal floods”. In relation to the accusations made by the president, the agency points out that the surveillance of ravines and river beds is not within its powers. Furthermore, they add that this institution is responsible for warning, not for warning of the consequences that the events they are warning about may cause. However, they also distance themselves from Mazón’s words that placed the storm in the Serranía de Cuenca. They claim no one made that prediction.
Denial of Miteco
One of the most blatant lies launched by Mazón this Friday in the Corts, as denounced this Saturday by the Ministry of Ecological Transition directed by Teresa Ribera, is the one referring to the moment of his transfer to the Integrated Operational Coordination Center: “When I was warned that The situation at the Forata dam was getting worse, I went to the Emergency Coordination Center where the Cecopi was established and working. Around 7:45 p.m., at Cecopi, the Confederation reported that the situation in Forata may worsen,” Mazón said this Friday.
However, Miteco sources assured that at 5:26 p.m. the Cecopi was already talking about the critical situation of the Forata dam and they were beginning to consider taking action. At 5:36 p.m. there was already talk of the possible bursting of the reservoir, with Mazón untraceable and in the middle of lunch with a Valencian journalist at the Ventorro restaurant.
The Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) did not make any decision between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on October 29 and interrupted the meeting from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Miteco sources point out that between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. hydrological alerts had already been activated due to the overflow of the Poyo ravine, the Magro river, the Júcar river and the Forata dam, as it was known that the situation was very serious.
Mazon’s response
After all this chain reaction, Mazón published the following message on his social networks at 7:56 p.m.: “The new argument of the Ministry of Ecological Transition is disturbing. They say that Cecopi, whose steering committee includes the Government of Spain, which had full capacity to take command at any time, already knew at 5:30 p.m. that there was a risk of a dam breaking that threatened the lives of 80,000 people. and yet, even though they were able to act, they did absolutely nothing for 3 hours with the excuse of being waiting for the President of the Generalitat, who is not even part of Cecopi and is not necessary to make any executive decision.”
The president then adds that there are two options: “Either his argument is false and everyone at CECOPI worked based on the information they had (which concluded at 8 p.m. with the call from the Secretary of State saying that he could not guarantee that the dam resists, at which time the alert is sent); or the Government knew since 5:30 p.m. that the dam could break without doing anything at all to alert the population when they had the capacity to do so.”
This argument clashes with a statement issued minutes by the Ministry of Justiceaccording to which, “starting at 6:00 p.m., Cecopi managed the situation at the Forata dam. From Emergencies, the notice was sent to the municipalities affected by the possible failure of the dam and fluid contact was maintained with the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, analyzing the evolution of the Forata dam and foreseeing the scenarios that could arise.
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