“He Hurricane Milton This month, in the State of Florida, with a population of more than 23 million inhabitants, there were a total of 23 fatalities. The DANA that is now hitting the Valencian Community has already claimed almost a hundred lives in a much less populated geographical area, with five million inhabitants in which this type of phenomena, although extreme and rare, had already occurred. . David Pinoprofessor of the Department of Physics of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering of Castelldefels (Barcelona), considers that “some of the deaths recorded so far in the storm in the Valencian Community could have been avoided if more precautionary measures had been taken after the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) will activate the red alert.
According to the expert, after the Aemet warning, early in the morning, the necessary procedures were not activated to guarantee security in the affected area. “The deaths that have been recorded in Valencia are outrageous due to the population that was at risk and the type of phenomenon,” says Pino in statements to ABC. He maintains that “when it went from orange alert to red alert, it was already known that this Community was in extreme riskalthough the specific area that would be most damaged was not known in detail.
“No one can say that all the deaths were avoidable, but some were,” says the professor, who demands a increased awareness about the impact of this type of natural phenomena, much more frequent due to the effect of climate change. “Drought is a phenomenon with a more direct relationship with climate change than floods,” the expert clarifies. In this sense, he advances that in the coming weeks it will be known that part of this DANA can be attribute to climate change». The scientists will reproduce, as he explains, “in numerical models this phenomenon in a scenario with climate change like the current one, with a higher temperature of the sea and the atmosphere and more precipitation, and in another without climate change. The result of this comparison will give us an idea of the real weight of climate change in this last phenomenon.
According to Pino, the rainfall recorded in some points of the Valencian Community such as Utiel “are the most important records in all of documented history.” «Before the 20th century there were no records of precipitation. We could compare the natural disasters by the number of fatalities or the amount of damage but not by the amount of water recorded,” the scientist clarifies.
Much more tragic balance if it hits at night
«After catastrophes like that of Biescas (Huesca), which in 1996 claimed 87 fatalities in a campsite located on the slope of a flood that overflowed with torrential rains, we have learned some lessons how to gauge the risk that we have of being victims of these episodes based on some parameters like where we live (if our house is located near a river or stream flow), or what level of protection do we have (emergency devices, etc.)”, indicates Pino. Add that there are other uncontrollable factors such as the moment in which these phenomena surprise you. “It is clear that if they hit at night the balance is much more tragic,” concludes the expert.
For his part, the CC.OO union. has denounced the maintenance of work activity in the Valencian Community when the risk of flooding was already known. «The Aemet issued the warning of adverse meteorological phenomena of orange and red level in the areas where the catastrophe finally occurred with sufficient advance notice. However, work activity continued in numerous companies, putting a large number of people at risk, which represents a non-compliance with legislation current preventive measure,” the union says in a statement.
According to the union, “there are companies that have forced workers to stay or go to their jobs despite facing a serious and imminent risk, and we make the union’s services available to people affected by this situation.” defend their jobs labor rights. “Likewise, – they add in the statement – we demand that the administrations a thorough investigation of what happened so that the necessary sanctioning and corrective measures are adopted, without ruling out, where appropriate, criminal responsibilities or whatever type they may be.
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