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.

The ground shook, and the tremor spread through walls and ceilings. Houses were reduced to rubble, and some of their inhabitants were buried under mountains of sand and stones. The epicenter of the earthquake was in northern Pakistan, a rugged territory of steep peaks where the scars of warring militias are part of the landscape. The first team to reach one of the affected areas was a group of Turkish rescuers, sent to provide aid where the Pakistani authorities could not reach. They set up camp, and the initial reports were difficult: there were victims trapped in the rubble. International regulations, established by the United Nations, stipulate that the first rescuers to arrive at a location were responsible for directing the operation and coordinating the teams from other countries as they arrived. A group of Catalans arrived, made up of firefighters from both the Generalitat and Barcelona. "Hello, how can we help?" one of them asked. He speaks in Catalan despite being in Pakistan and addressing a group of Turks.Sorry“?” the Turk replies. The Catalan smiles and switches to English. He smiles because he's not facing a Turkish rescuer, but a firefighter from Barcelona, ​​like himself, with whom he has shared many calls. They aren't in Pakistan either, although the freezing cold this afternoon feels like it belongs to the country at the Masia de Voltregà, in Osona. It's a drill, but everyone is taking it very seriously, to the point that they have to communicate in English, just as they always have when they've gone to help in Haiti, Morocco, Guatemala, Chile, or Greece. A nurse was left at airport customs – a supermarket parking lot – because she didn't have a necessary vaccine.

Civil Protection will carry out a test of activation of sirens chemical risk in the regions of Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre this May 29th at 4:00 p.m. During the exercise, 55 sirens will be activated—52 from the PLASEQTA (Tarragona Chemical Sector External Emergency Plan) and another three located in Flix and Tortosa. In addition, the population of the affected areas will receive two ES-Alert messages on their mobile phones: one to start the lockdown exercise and another to end it. It is estimated that the test could reach a population of more than 200,000 people.