The PP, urged the Minister of Interior and Emergencies, to be sent without delay of alert message to citizens about the risk of flooding at the crucial CECOPI meeting (integrated operational coordination center), convened on 29 October, the day the Dana that caused the death of at least 224 people in the province of Valencia was unleashed. The alert was finally sent at 8:00 p.m.
In a moment of tension, chaos and discussion about the content of the message, Mompó came to urge the need to make a decision in a impatient and colloquial tone: “Submit it already a fucking one once!”, As published according to the Testimonies of technicians collected after advanced information by, and that this newspaper has confirmed sources present and knowledgeable about the facts.
It is not the first time that he turns on those fateful hours, about the urgency of “taking measures” that Mompó then asked, as he explained publicly on November 22, or about the decision of the Minister Salome Pradas, responsible emergency policy , not to send the message through Es-Alert until the arrival of Mazón. But they have claimed again for the requests for information on who sent the message and when and the different proceedings of Judge of Instruction number 3 of Catarroja, which centralizes. In one of his recent cars he says: “It constitutes a constant in the statements of family members and witnesses the finding of the remarkably late notice, the advice to avoid displacements in the […] Alert was at 20.11, and erred in their content, many of the victims died unable to leave the ground floor of their home, going down to the garage, or simply being on public roads. In short, material damages could not be avoided, deaths yes, ”
With the tragic precedent of Valencia and in different circumstances, the president of the Government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, acted in a similar way to that of Mompó two days later, in the Cecopi he attended, according to several present sources. At the time, the Aemet had decreed a red notice and a Dana on northern Castellón, mainly, which would later move to Catalonia. At the meeting an “discussion” was filed, according to a source, a “conversation”, according to another, between technicians and politicians about the convenience of sending the ES-Alert alert, a system that requires preparations, which can be invasive And from which it cannot be abused to be effective, it was pointed out. Sánchez influenced the political component of the decision and urged to send it. “What do you expect or what we expect to send it,” said Sánchez more or less, “recalls a present source, which does not belong to the PSOE.
The message reached the citizens of the province of Castellón at 11.52 when there had already been torrential rains and some overflows, which intensified in the afternoon, with floods and road cuts, especially in populations such as Tirig or Catí and in regions as The Masterth and L’Alcoratén, but without causing fatalities. Its effects, in any case, are not comparable to the historical devastation suffered by the province of Valencia two days before.
Alert content
The content of the text sent to the mobiles of the citizens of the province of Castellón was already very different from the one sent two days before those of Valencia: “Civil Protection Alert Province of CS: before the episode of heavy rains it is requested that they remain in Its houses in elevated areas and if they are abroad, which are protected in high points. It is requested that they do not circulate on the roads, as the Cecopi has agreed ”. The alert of October 29, criticized by the judge and numerous mayors and citizens affected, said: “Civil Protection Alert, due to heavy rains and as a preventive measure, any type of displacement in the province of Valencia should be avoided. Are attentive to future notices by this channel and official sources. ”
Mazón and Sánchez park their differences at the end of the Cecopi on October 31 and expressed their intention to collaborate. “Thank you for coming as soon and for contact from the first moment. Collaboration is fundamental. Thank you very much for your closeness and your presence so adequate, ”said the Valencian president. “Any resource that they need, here is the Government of Spain. We are not going to leave the Valencians alone. All the time that is needed, with all the resources, ”said the socialist president. The controversial visit of November 3 of the kings and the two presidents to Paiporta, in which those affected showed their indignation with boos and insults and some threw objects (one hit Sánchez) was a turning point. The next day, and blamed the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation of the delay in sending the alert.
These days, the Valencian president has avoided answering the questions of the media and has only expressed his respect for the “judicial process.” The Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, has also referred to it, although on Monday she recalled that only when she saw Mazón in the Cecopi (which she attended telematically) is “when the ES-Alert was sent.”
