Spain/Floods: Most victims died before civil protection alert
Most of the 224 people who died in last October’s floods in Valencia, Spain, died before the civil protection alert was sent to people’s mobile phones, according to the first report of the judicial investigation, released today.
The report by the judge overseeing the investigation of this case, cited by several Spanish media outlets, includes hundreds of testimonies from relatives and acquaintances of people who died in basements and ground floors, inside elevators or when trying to save cars parked in car parks and garages.
According to reports, most of the victims disappeared between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm local time on October 29, in flooded garages and floors.
The testimonies collected by the investigation show that in several locations the waters began to flood streets and enter houses and garages at around 6:30 pm, that at 7:00 pm cars were already being swept away by the floods and that streets and neighbourhoods were left without electricity even before 7:30 pm.
Based on 60 testimonies from victims’ relatives, the judge in charge of investigating this case concluded that “the flagrant lack of warnings to the population” may have caused an “overwhelming number of deaths”
The civil protection alert was sent at 8:11 pm, hours after a red warning (the most serious) was issued by the Spanish meteorological services early in the morning of the same day.
The delay in sending the civil protection alert (the responsibility of the regional government of the Valencian Community) is one of the biggest criticisms that have been leveled since October 29 at the authorities in relation to the management of the storm and the floods it caused.
The main target of the protests and criticism has been the Valencian regional government, led by Carlos Mazón, from the Popular Party (PP, right), but in the demonstrations that have been called in recent months there have also been criticisms of the central executive, led by the socialist Pedro Sánchez.
In the demonstrations in Valencia, called by a platform of hundreds of entities, from associations to unions, always under the slogan “Mazón dismissal”, tens of thousands of people have already taken to the streets: 130,000 on November 9, 100,000 on November 30, 80,000 on December 29 and 25,000 on February 1, according to data from the Government Delegation (the entity that authorizes the protests and is responsible for activating a security device).
Mazón has been under constant criticism for the warnings issued on the day of the storm and the response of the authorities in the days that followed.
The regional president has also been criticized for the explanations he has given, especially about where he was and his actions on October 29, having already put forward several versions or new information, in reports that critics and other voices say are contradictory.
Regarding the situation on the ground, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez acknowledged at the end of January, three months after the floods, that there is still “a lot to do” in the reconstruction of the affected areas, “a long-distance race” and “a titanic task” in which “only the first steps have been taken”.
According to the latest report from the Spanish Government, 78 municipalities (75 of them in Valencia) were affected by the floods, which caused damage worth 2.2 billion euros to municipal infrastructure, water supply and basic sanitation.
The Spanish Government has so far approved aid packages for populations, companies and municipalities worth 16.6 billion euros.
Spain has also initiated procedures to activate the European Union (EU) solidarity fund.
Around 25,000 soldiers passed through the areas affected by the floods, as well as nearly 10,000 members of the State security forces, in what is the largest deployment ever mobilized in Spain in times of peace.
The storm and flooding that hit eastern and southern Spain on October 29 killed at least 232 people, 224 of them in the Valencian Community. Three people remain missing in Valencia.