Lack of anticipation from the authorities?
Communication from the authorities seems to have been lacking on the sidelines of these unprecedented bad weather. “We only received government alerts on our phones overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday but nothing was sent Tuesday morning or Monday evening. So everyone was taken by surprise. This gives the impression that the situation was not anticipated From then on, a lot of residents left at the same time on the highway which goes from Valencia to Madrid but this highway was also hit hard by the storm with trucks lying on their sides. , scenes of apocalypse, it’s monstrous what’s happening here,” adds Shine.
Viviane is one of the many Belgians on vacation in Spain. Installed for two weeks in the town of Cullera, an hour’s drive from Valencia, it was fortunately spared from bad weather. She is also surprised by the late communication from the Spanish authorities who apparently did not anticipate the deadly bad weather. “We received an alert message at just 10 p.m. this Tuesday telling us not to go out. Two other prevention messages followed. My children told me not to leave the house but I think that the authorities were not sufficiently foresighted in crisis management,” she explains.
Discontent is growing in the large disaster zone to demand the resignation of Carlos Mazon, the conservative president of the Valencian Generalitat. “The communications services warned the Valencians much too late when the villages were already flooded and the emergency services totally saturated,” adds Shine. “Carlos Mazon has cut the budget of the emergency services so much that they cannot cope with the emergency situation. The people of Valencia are calling for his resignation on social networks.”
Floods in Spain ©IPM GraphicsAt least 51 dead after the terrible floods in Spain: “We are facing a situation that no one has ever seen before”
On site, solidarity is organized. Shine is part of the Red Cross which helps disaster victims. “Four huge hostels were set up urgently to help the victims who no longer have access to their homes. It’s going to be a long day,” she adds.
This is certainly the worst bad weather in Valencia’s recent history. The oldest will still remember the great flood of Valencia which occurred on October 14, 1957 caused by a significant flood of the Turia river. More than 80 people lost their lives in the town, located at the mouth of the river. Since then, the river has been transformed into an urban park.
The FPS Foreign Affairs is closely and “proactively” monitoring the flood situation in the South-East of Spain, “in particular with regard to our compatriots there, and in close consultation with our consular and diplomatic posts in Spain “We estimate that around 13,200 Belgians are in the wider region. At the moment, we are not aware of any Belgians who have requested support from our consular and diplomatic posts,” explains Pierre Steverlynck, spokesperson for the. FPS Foreign Affairs.
B-Fast not deployed at the moment
“At this time, the Spanish government has not issued a request for international aid. The B-Fast mechanism cannot therefore be activated at this time. If such a request nevertheless reaches us at a later date, we will examine it with great interest to see what answer we could give,” he concludes.
