Before six in the afternoon this Wednesday, the members of the emergency committee (the Integrated Operational Coordination Center, known as Cecopi) of the DANA of Valencia, among which there are regional and state representatives, received a message. A second meeting was urgently called after the one at 9 in the morning, this time at six in the afternoon, given the certain possibility that AEMET would raise the warning for rain on the coast of Valencia to red.
In addition to the fact that a large amount of water was expected, it was raining and wet at ground zero, with a precarious sewage system that did not drain and threatened to bring water and mud to the surface again. Some municipalities, such as Aldaia, due to the absence of normality and the lack of repair of floodgates and infrastructure, had installed sandbags to block the passage in the channels in this second onslaught of the storm.
Connected online, Cecopi began to deal with the rain that was coming and for which AEMET announced red notices starting at nine at night. The lesson, due to more than 200 deaths, had been learned by the Generalitat, which in the Cecopi on October 29 did not issue the alert until 8:12 p.m., when the tragedy had already happened. On this occasion, with the same red notices and the same information as that fateful day, the president of the Consell did make a different decision, which was restrictions on vehicles and people and alerts to cell phones. The fact that the PP baron Juanma Moreno had evicted and alerted the population of Malaga hours before had also put a mirror and more pressure on him.
The atmosphere at Cecopi was somewhat tense this Wednesday afternoon. On the one hand, Mazón had been focused on his appearance at Les Corts Valencianes the following day (in the end it was postponed to Friday at 11:30) and the Minister of Justice, Salomé Pradas, attended while she is being questioned, about to be removed according to the pools, and identified as the only one responsible for the measures by his own boss, who has insisted that he is not a member, much less head, of that committee. Administratively, this is the case, because Mazón has refused to assume “sole command” of Cecopi as the law allows. If he did so, he would become directly responsible for legal purposes, something that remains for the moment for his counselor.
The direction of these committees flows chorally, often without clear authority or executive speed: the fear of taking sides can muzzle the guidelines and leadership. In fact, ideas or suggestions are collected without there being official minutes and without them being approved, as is required for them to be valid, in subsequent sessions.
On two occasions, the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, pointed out this Wednesday the urgent need to send the alert to mobile phones. “We’ll have to send it, right?” he insisted several times, according to eyewitness sources. In this second DANA, on the part of the Generalitat, no one doubted as in the Cecopi on October 29, when Pradas’ indecision about what to do and how – and the absence of Mazón, at a three-hour lunch with a journalist – installed a misgovernment in the only instance that could have protected citizens.
The answer in this second moment was affirmative, yes, it would have to be sent, but it was not done instantly even though the clock was ticking. It was parked and progress was made on other logistical issues.
In In Cecopi, where the command is from the Generalitat, matters continued to be debated beyond that hour for a situation in which minutes count. Advance notice, according to all the experts consulted, is essential in cases of risks for the population, especially at peak times or when they have to make logistical decisions such as changing their plans, not embarking on a trip or leaving the car.
However, Emergències of the Generalitat, which this time was clear that it had to restrict traffic and the circulation of people – and therefore take on the criticism in case the episode was not that bad or from those who see its interference everyday life – waited until 7:50 p.m. to send to the mobile phones of all Valencians that all educational, sports and day center activities were suspended, in addition to mobility restrictions by private motor vehicle until 12 noon the next day. According to the protocols, at the end of the meeting the Deputy Director of Emergencies wrote it up and sent it along with Minister Pradas.
At that time many mayors, including the capital, had already decided to suspend classes and had informed their citizens, even hours before. At that time it had also been reported that the plenary session where Mazón would give explanations had been postponed. Finally, one hour and shortly before the extreme risk episode began, the Es-Alert was sent to mobile phones. In some it was received with the heading “Presidential Alert”, in others in Spanish and Valencian and there are citizens who also received it in English. According to sources from the Generalitat, technicians cannot touch the header of the text, but only its content, and these different modalities could depend on the configuration of the phones.
There was a second warning on Wednesday night through the Es-Alert system. It was sent to around twenty towns, the most affected by DANA, in which it was reported that “given the vulnerability of the area and the expected accumulation of rain, it is recommended to stay in high areas of homes or elevated areas.” , according to the Emergency Cabinet. In the Cecopi at nine in the morning it had already been decided to send a first Es-Alert alert to that same ground zero to warn of “the traffic restrictions of private vehicles in the municipalities affected by the floods of Rambla del Poyo, Río Magro and districts of the south of Valencia”, an alert that ended up being issued one hour before its entry into force, at five in the afternoon, and to which was added this second of eight in the afternoon.
President Carlos Mazón tweeted at 8:11 p.m., after Cecopi, the rules that came into force imminently, after 50 minutes, using a literal part of the decree that abounds in the idea that the responsibility lies with Salomé Pradas and that she has not publicly unnoticed past: “This is the order of the department: I order…”. That is to say, what is decided in the Cecopi is ordered by Pradas, like what he ordered (or not) in the one on the 29th. A clue as to how he is going to construct his speech this Friday in the Corts to give explanations to the citizenship.
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