The Valencian Generalitat is late again and sends the ES-Alert more than an hour after the torrential rains started

ValenciaAlmost two years after the tragic DANA of 2024, the Generalitat Valenciana has once again been late, and last night it sent an ES-Alert when the rains that affected the province of Valencia had already been torrential for more than an hour. Specifically, at 10:08 p.m., it broadcast a message to all mobile phones in the area informing about the risk of flooding and asking to limit travel, in addition to moving to higher floors if an increase in water level was detected.

The sending of the ES-Alert coincided with the moment when the Emergency department announced that it was activating level 1 of the special flood risk plan in the hydrological area of the Poio and Saleta ravines, that is, just in the area most affected by the DANA two years ago. In 2024, the warning was broadcast at 8:11 p.m., when many of the 232 fatalities had already occurred, despite the fact that the rains had been torrential since early in the morning, when the red alert had already been decreed.

Orange alert and not red

In its defense, the Generalitat can now argue that yesterday the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) did not declare a red alert for the downpours, a forecast that was fulfilled, given that the 180 liters per square meter in 12 hours nor the 90 in a single hour were reached, even though in the case of the second indicator it came very close to exceeding it. In municipalities such as Torrent, 71 liters accumulated in 30 minutes and 100 in just over an hour and a half. The meteorological agency's forecast estimated accumulations of up to 60 liters in one hour and up to 120 in two or three hours. As a result of this forecast, the alert that was decreed for a good part of the Valencian Country was orange. Finally, and according to the Valencian Association of Meteorology (Avamet), the maximum records were 106 liters in l'Eliana, 102 in Chiva, and 100 in Torrent. Furthermore, more than 90 liters were also exceeded in Real, Torrent, Vinalesa, and Paterna.

As a result of the downpours, the Generalitat's Emergency Coordination Center handled 744 incidents such as fallen trees, broken branches, and flooded streets, 416 of which were in Valencia, where the airport was also closed. In fact, in the Valencian capital this Thursday, the metro is operating partially and the universities of Valencia and Elche have suspended in-person classes. For the Valencian president, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, and according to statements made this Thursday, "all the warnings worked perfectly," because an ES-Alert is not "sent to warn about rain," because for that there are already Aemet's forecasts, but rather in the face of possible incidents, in yesterday's case, "the danger of rising ravine water levels" and the need for the population to go to higher floors.

For this Thursday, Aemet has again established an orange alert on the coast of the provinces of Alicante and Valencia due to precipitation that may leave intensities of up to 60 liters in one hour. Once again, the records may be higher than 120 in two or three hours.