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The horror in Spain: why did the warning come so late?

The country is already talking about the biggest tragedy in this century

Nov 1, 2024 14:04 49

The horror in Spain: why did the warning come so late?  - 1

The town of Paiporta has been particularly hard hit by the heavy floods in Spain. 62 are the victims so far in this settlement alone. The total death toll reached 158 yesterday and is expected to rise further as many people are still missing.

Devastation everywhere

The full extent of the disaster in the 25,000-strong town of Paiporta, located near Valencia, becomes visible only when in doubt: mud and devastation everywhere. Volunteers bring water to people who cannot leave their homes. One bottle per household - otherwise there won't be enough, says one of the volunteers.

But the worst thing is that people continue to find the bodies of those who died in the floods from under the ruins. In no other populated place is the death toll during the torrential rains as high as in Paiporta. So far, 62 bodies have been found, says Mayor Maribel Albalat. According to her, people were completely unprepared for the disaster: "No one warned us. We knew nothing. In the city center we found many elderly people in their one-story houses. We found others in the underground garages. They wanted to drive their cars to a safe place, but they ended up in a deadly trap," says Albalat.

Alarm on mobile phones only after 12 hours

Accusations that the authorities warned the population too late are rising with increasing force. The National Weather Service raised the alert level for the province from orange to red as early as 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. The weather service's warnings are available to everyone, but the regional government activated the alarm on all mobile phones in the region only in the evening - as much as 12 hours later, when the rivers were already overflowing.

Meanwhile, the debate is taking on a political dimension, but Carlos Mazon, prime minister of the Valencia region, does not want to lead it now: "I don't want to lead dirty politics. The moment is not right at all, and my principles simply forbid me to do so. "The reliability of early warning systems has been proven," he said.

"The greatest tragedy of this century"

Politically, this debate has explosive potential, as the central government of socialist Pedro Sánchez is in charge of the National Meteorological Service, and the conservative regional government of Mazón is in charge of civil defense and the early warning system via mobile phone alarms.< /p>

"This is the biggest tragedy in our country in this century. And it must be thoroughly analyzed", said the Spanish Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlasca in this regard. And former socialist politician Eduardo Madina, today a regular guest in a number of talk shows, draws attention to the fact that there are often reshuffles in important posts in Spain when power changes. The most important criterion here is party affiliation, Madina argues, adding that this was also the case with civil defense after the change of government in Valencia a year ago. "Why should everything be changed and canceled after a change of power? I would like to see a greater willingness for consensus after this enormous tragedy. This is important for our future," commented the expert.

Meanwhile, military units also arrived in Paiporta. Dozens of people are still missing. A total of 1,700 military personnel are already deployed in the region.

Authors: Jan Walter | Hans-Günther Kellner (ARD)