“Red notice means danger to the population.” The meteorological services of the Valencian public radio and television station À Punt warned early in the morning of torrential rains and the risks of flooding and overflowing of ravines and ravines. Public television meteorologists emphasize that, with the information available in real time, the disaster could have been avoidable. “We cannot avoid DANA, but we do have means to prevent people from leaving home,” explains Victoria Rosselló, meteorologist and presenter on À Punt, the Valencian public radio and television station.
Meteorological news services are an essential space to raise awareness among the population of the risks of atmospheric phenomena. Professionals wonder how, at a time when there is information in real time, which can be consulted directly without intermediation, the notice did not reach the population. “Knowing how they knew it, they were not able to alert the population,” Rosselló continued in an interview on Les Notícies del Matí on the public television where he works.
The meteorologist considers that Aemet has a debatable warning policy, “but we were on red notice all morning.” And that warning means that there is danger for the population. “We knew that more than 400 liters had fallen at the head of the rivers in the morning and all that would go to the Rambla del Poyo”, also called Chiva ravine, the artificial channel that overflowed and caused flooding in the region of l ‘Horta Sud. Through Picanya, Paiporta, Massanassa and Catarroja, it dragged everything it found on its way through Sedaví, while in parallel, the V-30 highway became a river next to the new channel of the Túria.
In the space dedicated to meteorological information on the midday news, this doctor in Physics emphasizes that the population was warned not to leave their homes. “At 3 p.m., and throughout the morning, we were saying that we should not leave the house,” he points out. “The Rambla del Poyo had a rise of 2,000 cubic meters per second, at six in the afternoon, which is four times the normal flow of the Ebro,” explains the presenter, trying to illustrate the tsunami they were warning about. The official alarm from the Generalitat Valenciana occurred after 8 p.m. “We have means and tools with which this cannot possibly happen. “Avamet is available to anyone,” he continues during the interview.
Rosselló’s diagnosis coincides with that of the head of climatology at Aemet in the Valencian Community, José Ángel Núñez, who in an interview with elDiario.es demands to reflect on the alert mechanisms: “Many victims were in areas where there was almost no rain, which may have created a false sense of security, while torrential rains were falling upstream.” “There has been no feeling of risk and that was extreme, the feeling of risk has not arrived and that has to make us think,” he emphasizes.
The Aemet website indicates that with the red level “the meteorological risk is extreme (unusual meteorological phenomena, of exceptional intensity and with a very high level of risk for the population)”. “Recommendation: Take preventive measures and act according to the instructions of the authorities. Stay informed of the most up-to-date weather forecast. Normal activities may be severely disrupted. “Do not travel unless strictly necessary.”
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