Alex Trelinski
TWO former bosses of Valencia’s emergencies team will have to explain why the October 29 flood alert was sent so late.
Ex-emergencies minister, Salome Parades, and former emergencies chief, Emilio Argueso have been ordered to testify at a Catarroja court.
Both were sacked within weeks by Valencian president Carlos Mazon in response to criticism levelled at them- and himself- over their poor response to the October 29 floods.
READ MORE:
- Scammer duped Valencia flood victims out of €32k in deposits for house repairs
- Daughters of man missing since 1984 discover he was living in Valencia before being killed in last year’s DANA disaster
- Revealed: The number of emergency calls made about Valencia floods before warning was sent by regional government
Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra is probing any potential criminality over the handling of the disaster including the late sending of the alert, which was sent at 8.11pm.
One or more people could end up facing charges of causing reckless homicide and injury.
Tobarra described the alert as ‘late and erroneous’- pointing out extensive media coverage throughout the day of the flooding and institutions like the University of Valencia cancelling classes.
The judge said the State Meteorological Agency(Aemet) had produced multiple forecasts and what happened that day was ‘not an unforeseen weather phenomenon’.
Those forecasts, according to the judge, should have led to a morning meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Centre (Cecopi) ‘in order at least to warn the population’.
Judge Tobarra has also received a report which shows over 15,000 people made calls to the 112 emergency number before the 8.11pm warning was issued.
Another document sent to the court revealed that most of the 225 flood deaths were elderly people who were trapped or who disappeared before the mid-evening alert
