Manslaughter investigation opened against Spain’s weather agency over Valencia flood deaths

THE chief of Spain’s national weather agency is facing investigation for manslaughter over the deaths of 221 people in Valencia last month.

María Jose Rallo del Olmo, the president of Aemet, is one of three officials in the firing line of a complaint filed by activist group Manos Limpias.

The group has deemed Rallo del Olmo to be jointly culpable for the loss of life following the catastrophic storms and flooding that struck the Valencia region on October 29.

The complaint details a series of negligent mismanagement errors from Aemet, the regional government and the regional hydrological authority that contributed to the deaths.

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The first claim is that the red warning sent out by Aemet at 8am on the day of the disaster was ‘insufficient’ because it only warned residents not to travel.

The president of the Jucar Hydrographic Confederation, Miguel Polo, is then listed as culpable for not warning the regional government of the deadly torrential water flows in the Poyo ravine until it was too late.

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The confederation reportedly notified the Valencia Generalitat that the flow of the ravine was low at 3.50pm.

But data from a sensor in the ravine began to report that the ravine was flowing out of control around 5pm, yet Polo’s authority didn’t warn the Generalitat until 6.43pm – when people had already begun to die.

The complaint adds that the Jucar Hydrographic Confederation has a budget of €58.2 million, but has only invested €1.1 million in preventive infrastructure while at the same time spending more than €8 million on salaries.

The third person who could find themselves in the dock is Valencia Security and Emergencies boss Angel Javier Montero.

The regional government did not send out Civil Protection emergency alerts to mobile phones in the affected areas until 8.11pm. 

The complaint was accepted by Judge Vicente Rios, who decided to move ahead and open a formal investigation.

Manos Limpias added that they filed their own complaint after growing impatient waiting for the ‘passive’ public prosecutor to open an investigation.