Heavy rains, strong winds, problems on Rodalies... The start of the year for Imma Solé as deputy director of Civil Protection has been intense. She speaks to ARA from the Emergency Centre of Catalonia (CECAT), in the Ministry of Interior, a space where she has spent hours and hours locked away managing emergencies.

Civil Protection will send an ES-Alert message to mobile phones this afternoon in the Alt Empordà, Berguedà, Ripollès, and the northern half of Cerdanya regions due to the risk of strong winds. The event, with gusts that could exceed 140 km/h, will begin at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and is expected to end at 4:00 p.m. This was confirmed by the Deputy Director of Civil Protection, Imma Solé, who asked residents to avoid travel and outdoor activities in these areas, and to exercise extreme caution. Rough seas, with waves exceeding four meters, are also expected in the Alt and Baix Empordà regions.

Red and orange hues painted the map across much of Catalonia on Thursday due to a powerful storm, prompting the Catalan government to implement a nationwide lockdown. Images of uprooted trees and fallen infrastructure in the streets, collapsed roofs, power outages, and disruptions to roads, trains, and flights have been circulating since the early hours, particularly in the Barcelona area. From a strictly technical standpoint, the maximum alert was justified, according to experts. This is an exceptional event affecting densely populated areas with high traffic and are not accustomed to such strong winds. But not all areas have been affected equally, and this apparent divergence between the forecast and reality has sparked complaints from local communities in the far reaches of the country, who have lamented that the storm's activation was not localized, as was the case with the recent storms that affected the Girona region and the Ebro River basin. The Catalan Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, expressed her conviction that the closure of schools, universities, and non-urgent medical care, as well as the recommendations to limit travel during the windstorm, were effective in reducing accidents, although there were approximately eighty injuries. The fact that winds exceeded 100 km/h in densely populated urban areas along the Barcelona coast and pre-coastal region, as happened today, is unusual. It had been years since such a strong windstorm had been recorded in that area. In contrast, in much of the Terres de l'Ebre, the Camp de Tarragona, and the Costa Brava, areas more accustomed to the force of the mistral and tramontana winds, the gusts were ultimately not as intense. The forecasts predicted a widespread gale, exceptional in its extent and intensity, but with irregular impacts. Therefore, given this variability, a dilemma arose: should the entire country be shut down?

This Thursday, wind gusts exceeding 108 km/h are expected across Catalonia, particularly in the Barcelona and Central Catalonia regions. This is a dangerous phenomenon, and therefore the Catalan government is urging citizens to take extreme precautions, avoid unnecessary travel, and work remotely whenever possible. Below are some recommendations from Civil Protection on what to do in this situation.

Firefighters' rescue teams located the body of a man on Tuesday night who, pending identification, could be the Fontanilles resident, around sixty years old, who was swept away with his car in the morning in the Palau-sator stream (Baix Empordà) due to the storm HarryWhile the river is usually dry, the town's mayor, Jordi Riembau, noted that on Tuesday it carried "five or six meters of water" after being collected from the Les Gavarres massif. The 112 emergency service received the alert at 7:30 a.m., at the same time that Civil Protection sent the ES-Alert message to mobile phones in four districts of Girona: Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, La Selva, and Gironès. Throughout the day, ground teams searched for the man, but had to suspend the water search because conditions were unsafe in the area where the Ter and Daró rivers meet. Air teams (a helicopter and drones) continued the search with the support of some ground personnel. Once the river level in the stream receded, the roof of the vehicle became visible, and firefighters located it.

Just over a year ago, a severe weather event, known as a "DANA," devastated the Valencian Community with flash floods that claimed the lives of 230 people. The event left scenes of people clinging to cars and balconies to escape the water, and the following day, images of destruction in the streets, homes, and several schools. The lack of contingency plans for such events also caused chaos in educational centers. In fact, just a few weeks ago, the Valencian Minister of Education, José Antonio Rovira, even questioned whether he had been prepared. "to look after the 500,000 students and the 80,000 teachers" Valencians when he was criticized for the death of a school principal in Cheste, who died returning home after staying at the school all day during the floods.

It was April 28th, a sunny spring Monday that was expected to be calm. It was the day chosen by the Catalan Civil Protection agency to film an advertisement about the kit An emergency kit: it's a backpack everyone should keep in their front door, containing essential items to cope with a crisis for 72 hours. The advertisement explained what should be packed in the kit and why it was important to have one. What happened that day further highlights the need for these kits. kitsSuddenly, the circuit breakers in every house tripped, trains stopped, and cell phone coverage began to fail. in a general blackout on the Iberian PeninsulaThe recording of the advertisement was postponed, and the campaign was finally launched this Monday.

This Monday at 10:00 AM, the phones of more than five million people rang simultaneously. Civil Protection sent a mass alert as part of an emergency drill to all mobile phones with coverage and connected to antennas in the Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Maresme, Vallès Oriental, and Vallès Occidental regions. This meant that it affected everyone in this area, including those passing through on the road or using public transport at the time of activation.

After passing through Catalonia without serious incidents, the storm is causing some flooding in the Valencian Community, where levels have already exceeded 350 liters per square meter in cities such as Gandia. The main downpours are occurring along the Valencian coastline, where rainfall is not constant but is torrential. Particularly notable are municipalities such as Oliva, Xeraco, Cullera, and Sueca, where several streets were flooded this afternoon. However, the fact that the storm is affecting towns near the sea—where rivers and gullies drain their water quickly—would rule out scenarios similar to those of last October's DANA, when the downpours were localized inland.

Suddenly, the phone emits a shrill sound, to which we were previously unfamiliar, and a text from the Generalitat Civil Protection appears, often accompanied by a danger signal with an exclamation point. The content of the message varies depending on the emergency: there is a fire nearby and you must stay indoors; downpours are forecast and it is recommended to avoid outdoor activities; there has been an accident that could cause a chemical cloud… This is the ES-Alert alert, which sends pop-up messages to all mobile phones within an area. It was recently sent to the vast majority of the Catalan population (37 of the 43 regions) due to the torrential rains in mid-July.

Caution, following safety recommendations, and bathing safely; these are the three recommendations the Catalan government is urging in light of the rising number of drownings both on beaches and in swimming pools in Catalonia this summer. For this reason, the Catalan government, through the Catalan Civil Protection Department, has launched the "Safe Bathing, Quiet Summer" campaign through the Department of the Interior and Public Security. This campaign emphasizes the need to follow the recommendations and also to take all possible safety measures. Since the beach campaign began in Catalonia on June 15, thirteen people have drowned on Catalan beaches, three have died in swimming pools, and other deaths have occurred in inland waters (rivers and reservoirs).

In view of the heavy rain that is expected to affect Catalonia in the coming hoursThe Meteorological Service and Civil Protection have issued a general call for calm, but without letting their guard down: people should be careful when moving around, avoid flood-prone areas, and be aware of the weather if engaging in outdoor activities.

Seven people have drowned on Catalan beaches since the summer season began on June 15. That's seven deaths in two weeks, an average of one every two days. "It's not the worst figure in history, but it is one of the worst," Sergio Delgado, deputy director of Civil Protection programs for the Catalan government, told ARA. A year ago, five deaths were recorded in June, and the summer season (which ends on September 15) It ended with 17 fatalities at sea. We are, therefore, above the records of the previous year, and Delgado links this directly to the high temperatures, which cause people to go to the coast more.

The Generalitat (Catalan Government) is considering incorporating key services and infrastructure, such as railway operators and some oil and electricity companies, into the RESCAT network, its emergency and security radio communications system. The goal is to ensure internal (within the services themselves) and external (with Civil Protection) contact. in case an emergency is declared that compromises conventional communication networks. According to ARA, this is one of the measures on the table by Salvador Illa's government to provide an integrated response that guarantees the continuity of strategic services in "situations of widespread failure," such as the one caused two weeks ago by the general blackout on the Iberian Peninsula.

Sergio Delgado, deputy director of Civil Protection programs, receives the ARA at the Operational Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT), in the Ministry of the Interior, from where he led the management of the great blackout last Monday.

With the blackout The power cuts arrived. Service coverage vanished. Thousands of people were trapped, especially on trains and in elevators. Traffic lights went dark, with the risk of a collision at any intersection. And at Fire Brigade headquarters, fear quickly began to emerge: "The question was: 'Are people calling us? Are calls coming in to 112?'" says David Borrell, Chief Inspector of the Generalitat Fire Brigade. He admits that "certainly" some calls didn't come in, but they have no evidence of any risky situations being missed. The Deputy Director of Civil Protection, Imma Solé, agrees, stating that a widespread inability to contact the emergency line was not detected.

Civil Defense fears that this weekend, the first in Catalonia without regional lockdown for cohabitation bubbles since Christmas, there will be concentrations in natural areas; and therefore has again asked citizens to exercise extreme caution when travelling and when they arrive at their destination. "We are tired and we need to do things, to go out. But let's do them safely", said the deputy director of Civil Defense in Catalonia, Imma Solé. The statements make even more sense after the Catalan Traffic Service recorded a 49% increase in mobility at the entrances and exits of Barcelona: up to 1pm, a total of 265,000 vehicles had travelled through the metropolitan area.