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Diari Valencià

Head of Civil Protection Confirms Central Government Requested Es-Alert for DANA

The official testified before the judge that she received a call from Madrid asking why the alert was not being sent to the population.

Generic image of a mobile phone displaying an emergency alert against a stormy background.
IA

Generic image of a mobile phone displaying an emergency alert against a stormy background.

The head of Civil Protection for the Government Delegation in València confirmed to the DANA judge that the Central Government requested the dispatch of the Es-Alert system on October 29, 2024, a day that resulted in 230 fatalities.

The official explained that, during a break in the meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), she received a call from the General Directorate of Civil Protection in Madrid. In this call, she was asked why the alert was not being sent to the population. The head of Civil Protection expressed her concern about the lack of a clear mechanism to notify citizens.
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"I am concerned because I don't know how the population will be notified."

the head of Civil Protection
The call took place around 6:25 PM. The official recounted that the situation was chaotic and there was a possibility that the Forata dam could break. When asked why the Es-Alert was not being used, she replied that she would immediately notify to remind them of its existence.
She added that, at that moment, they did not know how to notify the population, and that the mention of Es-Alert by her colleague from Madrid was a relief, as it was not a resource they had used before. The witness detailed the calls she made to the deputy general director of Emergencies to insist on sending the automatic message to mobile phones.
Once she managed to speak with the head of the Emergencies service, she was informed that everyone was overwhelmed. The testimony of the head of Civil Protection corroborates the previous statement by the head of the Emergencies service, who informed the deputy general director via WhatsApp that the Government Delegation was reminding them of the possibility of sending the Es-Alert.
The initial idea of the Cecopi was to send a message to the towns downstream of the Forata dam and the l'Horta Sud region, asking residents to move to higher floors. A second Es-Alert should have been sent to the entire province of Valencia requesting recipients to stay at home. The official intervened in the Cecopi to ensure that the recommendation to move to higher floors was included.
She also confirmed that the government delegate in València commented on the situation in Paiporta during the Cecopi meeting, indicating that the town in l'Horta Sud was flooding. Furthermore, the head of Civil Protection proposed using the National Emergency Radio Network (REMER) due to telephone coverage problems, an idea that was well received by the then regional minister.

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