Yzabelle Bostyn
THE Valencian government considered sending the emergency DANA alert an hour and a half before it was actually sent, an emergency services employee has confirmed.
It was revealed during an inquiry into the tragic floods- which claimed 228 lives last October.
Jorge Suarez, subdirector of Valencia’s regional emergency coordinator, Cecopi, confirmed the delay in the Catarroja court today.
He claimed he first considered sending the alert, known as Es Alert at 6:36 pm, an hour and a half before it was sent at 8:11 pm.
Credit Image: © David Aparicio Fita/ZUMA Press Wire
The statement contrasts with the testimony given by ex-justice advisor, Salome Pradas last month, where she said the government began to consider sending the alert from 7pm.
She appeared in court as a defendant, not a witness like Suarez.
Suarez’s testimony could clarify what happened from 6-7pm, when Cecopi employees working from home were left disconnected from an emergency Zoom meeting.
Pradas reportedly made a seven minute phone call to Valencian president, Carlos Mazon during this gap, the contents of which remain unknown.
PHOTO: Cordon Press
During the devastating floods, Pradas’ deputy, Emilio Arrgueso was in charge of the Valencian Agency of Emergency Safety and Response (AVSRE). He is also a defendant in this case.
According to Suarez, he was informed of phone communication issues on the day of the DANA.
“I worked remotely. They told me that we might send an Es Alert and to be ready,” he told the court.
He had been working for the 112 emergency services for over 25 years, which managed over 20,000 calls on the day of the tragedy.
Suarez claims he tested the Es Alert system in May 2023 and had not carried out another since then, despite recommendations to carry out at least once a year.
His boss, Pradas admitted she did not know about the system until the day of the floods.
READ MORE: Judge orders sacked emergency chiefs to explain why Valencia flood warning was sent so late
Despite 23 operatives authorised to send alerts and the suggestion to send the message at 6:36pm, the warning was not issued until 8:11pm.
At 8:08pm, authorities gave the green light to an employee authorised to ‘validate’ the message and it took three minutes to alert Valencian citizens that the origin of the flooding, the Poyo river, had burst.
The delay was in part due to poor telephone communications, with calls from Suarez cutting off or being ‘too quiet’ for the employee to hear.
However, the employee did maintain that they kept contact with the ‘responsible technician’, Suarez, during the incident.
The overseeing judge, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra said if the alert was sent ‘earlier’ and was ‘better’ composed lives could have been saved.
She noted how the message did not include advice to seek higher ground by going up to the first floor of buildings.
Suarez’s testimony joins last week’s testimony from an emergency technician who took part in sending the alert.
They stated that Pradas told them ‘not to send anything until she gave the final green light,’ testimony which contradicts the ex-advisor’s defence.
