The investigation continues in Valencia into the actions of the authorities during the devastating flood that claimed the lives of over 180 people. At a Congressional hearing, former inspector and head of the provincial fire service, José Miguel Basset Blesa, stated that the proposal to send a mass emergency alert was discussed at the very beginning of the crisis meeting. However, key recommendations for the population were omitted from the final message.
Delay in alerting
According to Basset, the question of notifying residents via mobile phones was raised shortly after the Cecopi coordination center meeting began at 5:00 p.m. However, the final alert was sent only at 8:11 p.m., by which time most of the victims had already perished. In the original draft, he said, there was a direct call not to leave homes and not to try to save vehicles, but these instructions were removed without explanation.
Changes in wording
The first alert was limited to advising residents to avoid any movement and await further instructions. Only in the second notification, sent nearly an hour later, did the authorities explicitly ask people to stay indoors, especially those near rivers and low-lying areas. By that time, the death toll had already exceeded 180, and regional head Carlos Mazón had spent less than half an hour at the scene.
Disagreements among officials
Basset emphasized that the requirement for population ‘confinement’ would not have violated the law, contrary to the opinion of some commission members. He recalled that the current flood response plan provides for three options: removing people from the danger zone, temporarily restricting movement, and evacuation. However, as it turned out, Vice President and Emergency Advisor Salome Pradas was unable to implement the idea of confinement: she was stopped by the chief aide to the regional head while he was occupied with a meeting with a journalist.
Responsibility and coordination
During the hearings, Basset also rejected accusations from former secretary Emilio Argueso, who claimed that he gave the order to withdraw firefighters from the Barranco del Pollo spill zone without notifying Cecopi. Basset insists he was not aware of this decision and considers the accusations false. He added that coordinating assistance from other regions was complicated by blocked roads: more than 100 people were forced to spend the night at the Torrent fire station, unable to return home.
Recalling other high-profile decisions of the local authorities, it is worth noting that a large-scale eviction of an illegal settlement was recently completed in Ibiza, as detailed in the article on police actions and emergency resettlement of residents of Sa-Joveria.
Service operation details
Basset noted that despite difficulties accessing the affected areas, UME military units arrived at the scene from the very beginning. According to him, even local residents could not reach their homes due to flooded roads and destroyed infrastructure.
