The Valencia Provincial Council closed its work centers due to DANA six hours before the SMS alert to the population

The Valencia Provincial Council sent all its workers home at noon on Tuesday, October 29, due to DANA because of the “very high risk for the population.” The institution, according to the documentation in the possession of elDiario.es and has been able to confirm from sources within the institution, sent an email to all its employees recommending that, starting at 2:00 p.m. on the day the catastrophe occurred, All work centers would remain closed “to avoid risks to workers.” This personalized message for the rest of the citizens of the province of Valencia was not sent by the Generalitat Emergencies until 8:12 p.m., more than six hours later, when the water was already covering the municipalities of l’Horta Sud.

According to this official email, the Valencian Provincial Council did weigh the risks well and sent its workers home before 2 p.m., which allowed many to reach their homes before the situation worsened. And in Chiva, Utiel and the municipalities on the banks of the Xúquer they were already suffering historic floods. Just at 1 p.m., the president of the Generalitat himself took the edge off the storm and announced that it would subside in the province of Valencia at 6 p.m.

The email from the Provincial Council to its employees reads: “On the occasion of DANA, whose forecast – according to AEMET and the Emergency Coordination Center – is that it will discharge with force in Valencia in the next few hours and consequently the intense rains cause the activation of the red notice, which represents an extreme meteorological risk with a very high risk for the population, it has been decided as a preventive measure: Suspend today, 10/29/2024, the activity in the work centers dependent on the Valencia Provincial Council as of 2 p.m., will remain closed from the aforementioned time to avoid risks to workers.”

Despite this recommendation, some of the Provincial Council officials remained at their jobs beyond 2 p.m. and, evidently, the workers of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium and the brigade members did work completely normally.

It should be remembered that the Provincial Firefighters Consortium of the Valencia Provincial Council is present throughout the DANA operation and its owner, José Miguel Basset, maintains that the SMS notification and the management of the alerts was done correctly and according to the protocol. .