The Autumn 2024 Spanish D.A.N.A floods

Introduction

Everyone has now seen the horrific images on global news channels about the devastating floods in the Spanish Valencia region as well as the huge amount of suffering and loss of life. Although BarcelonaTravelHacks.com is primarily a Barcelona and Catalonia centric travel and tourism website, I felt that some minor corrections needed to be made about some of the English language news reports that I have seen online as well as provide information about how you can help and donate to the relief funds.

What is a D.A.N.A?

D.A.N.A stands for Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos and is a yearly weather phenomenon that causes heavy rain at the end of the summer and Autumn in the Mediterranean area. With 20 years experience living in Barcelona, this is not an unusual occurrence and as a former infrastructure maintenance engineer, autumn night shifts and on-call often involved following behind a storm to restore services at this time of year.

Why Valencia flooded

Valencia flooded for a number of reasons:
1. River channels had some bridges which restricted the flow of water due to small arches rather than unobtrusive spans across the whole width of the river bed.
2. The flood plains next to the principal river channels are urbanized with high density neighbourhoods when this land should be set aside for flood absorption. I.e. used for cultivation and parkland which would absorb the water much better than asphalt and concrete and allow excess water to escape freely to the sea.
3. The two dams of the river Turia (Embalse de Benagéber and Embalse de Loriguilla) were releasing water gradually days before the predicted heavy rain to allow space for the anticipated deluge, however they were only able to retain 50% of the water that fell (because they reached full capacity), and so had to release the overflow back into the Turia river that flows through Valencia.
4. One year's worth of rain fell in one day, which combined with the above factors caused the devastating flooding of urban residential areas south of Valencia City Centre.

Timeline of the Valencia floods

There has been much news reporting from first hand accounts of Valencian citizens saying that they were not warned about the floods.

Several days later and the blame game between regional and national Governments has started to direct the blame for who is responsible for this disaster. Below is a translation of a timeline of events[1] demonstrating that from the 23rd of October the AEMET[2] state weather agency started to issue warnings of a DANA and on the 27th of October, was able to predict that it would land in the Valencia region.

On Sunday, 27th October, AEMET were able to predict that Tuesday the 29th October would be the day that the DANA landed. on Tuesday 29th October AEMENT continued issuing severe weather warnings throughout the day from 6 in the morning, advising people not to travel and stay inside but the Generalitat Valenciana[3] did not issue an emergency SMS broadcast till 20:11 in the evening by which time people were traveling home from work in their cars and the streets were packed with vehicles. This is when the river burst it's banks washing away many people trapped in their cars.

The press release on the 30th of October in which it states that AEMET is in charge of making predictions, but it is up to the regional government administrations to evaluate the risk of an alert. The document states: The competent authorities (meaning local governments i.e. Generalitat Valenciana) in matters of civil protection are responsible for evaluating the conditions on the population and the environment, issuing the corresponding warnings and adopting the appropriate protection measures is a damning indication of how slow the Valencian government were in reacting to the weather reports and sets the blame clearly at the feet of the regional government.

For context, the daily average rainfall for Valencia is 2mm per day falling on one metre square (based on a yearly average). The AEMET forecast was predicting 180mm of rainfall.

[1] Source: Maldito Clima.

[2] AEMET - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología - Spanish Government weather forecast service.

[3] Generalitat Valenciana - Regional government of the Valencia Autonomous region of Spain

1. Wednesday, 23rd October: The first warnings from AEMET spoke of the fact that, in the following days, the atmospheric circulation at high levels was going to ripple so much that a pocket of cold air was going to be isolated, giving rise to the formation of a DANA ,although there was still much uncertainty about their final position or about the areas that would receive the most rain.
2. Thursday, 24th October: AEMET declares the first yellow warnings, that on Friday the 25th a front would leave precipitation in large areas of Spain and over the following days, a DANA would approach, but with much uncertainty still about its final position. Of course, they warned that at that time it was predicted that the east of the peninsula would be the area that would receive the most rain.
3. Friday, 25th October: AEMET released an informational note for an episode of widespread rain in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, in which it warned that, most likely, during Tuesday 29th October, there could be heavy or very strong and locally persistent showers and storms in parts of the Mediterranean slope, although there was still much uncertainty about the exact location.
4. Saturday, 26th October: AEMET released another informative note that predicted that Tuesday 29th would be the day in which the biggest accumulations of the entire episode were expected, with the greatest probability of intense precipitation in the centre of the peninsula and the east of the southern plateau, and even with larger ones accumulated in Alborán island and the Mediterranean.
5. Sunday, 27th October: AEMET published a special warning of adverse events. In it they indicated that Tuesday would be the day with the greatest probability of intense precipitation in the Mediterranean area. It was warned that on that day it was likely that 150mm would be exceeded in 24 hours in parts of the Valencian Community and Murcia.
6. Monday, 28th October 14:04h: AEMET issued a second special warning, in which it reiterated that Tuesday would be the day with more precipitation and intense storms, with areas where 120-150mm could be exceeded in 12-24 hours in the area of ​​the Strait of Gibraltar, Andalusia Oriental, Murcia, the east of Castilla-La Mancha and the Valencian Community.
7. Tuesday, 29th October 06:424h: AEMET issued an Orange warning for rain in several areas of the province of Valencia. The orange level means, according to the National Plan for Prediction and Monitoring of Adverse Meteorological Phenomena, that the risk is significant.
8. Tuesday, 29th October 07:31h: AEMET declares a red alert in the northern interior of Valencia. This means extraordinary danger. The recommendation of the AEMET is to take preventive measures and act as indicated by the authorities, as well as not to travel unless it is strictly necessary.
9. Tuesday, 29th October 07:36h: AEMET escalates the northern coast of Valencia to red level, which includes the metropolitan area of ​​Valencia.
10. Tuesday, 29th October 08:04h: AEMET warns online that the southern coast of Valencia was suffering torrential rains with accumulations of more than 90 litres per square meter in one hour that could cause floods and inundations. The agency called for great caution because the danger was extreme.
11. Tuesday, 29th October 08:53h: The Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar warned on X that in the last four hours more than 120 l/m² had accumulated in Carlet, 110 in Cortes de Pallás and more than 100 in Dos Aguas, all city neighbourhoods of Valencia.
12. Tuesday, 29th October 08:53h: The Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar warned on X that in the last four hours more than 120 l/m² had accumulated in Carlet, 110 in Cortes de Pallás and more than 100 in Dos Aguas, all city neighbourhoods of Valencia.
13. Tuesday, 29th October 09:06h: AEMET warned on its network that there were red warnings until 18:00 hours in a good part of the province and warned again that you had to be very careful because the danger was extreme. You don't go near rivers or wade. Floods are occurring. Very complicated situation.
14. Tuesday, 29th October 11:27h: The AEMET spokesperson, Rubén del Campo, published a video warning of a situation of great adversity in the Mediterranean area due to torrential rains with red warnings (the maximum level) that assume extreme danger both in the province of Valencia and that of Málaga.
15. Tuesday, 29th October 11:55h: The Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar reported that the rains had left large accumulations in the basin and that problems had been detected in the watercourses. Specifically, that the Barxeta ravine had overflowed as it passed through Pobla Llarga and that it was flowing heavily into Carcaixent. Also reported that there were overflowing ravines in the Manuel area, that the Albaida River had a considerable flood and that the flow of the Magro River was increasing significantly.
16. Tuesday, 29th October 12:20h: The Emergency Coordination Centre of the Valencian Generalitat (regional government) reported a hydrological alert in the Rambla del Poyo based on a warning from the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar. The alert addressed to the municipalities asked to adopt preventive measures to prevent people from accessing the banks. The advice to the population was not to approach the banks of rivers and ravines that may be active.
17. Tuesday, 29th October 13:00h: The president of Valencia, Carlos Mazón, during a press conference that "According to the forecast, the storm is moving towards the Serranía de Cuenca and hoped it would reduce in intensity by 18:00h in all the of the rest of the Valencian Community".
18. Tuesday, 29th October 14:00h: La Generalitat Valenciana announced a red alert for rainfall in the towns of Ribera Alta and la Plana Utiel-Requena.
19. Tuesday, 29th October 14:30h: AEMET published a third special warning, which raised the amount of precipitation that could be reached compared to the previous day's special warning, from more than 150mm to more than 180mm between mid day and midnight.
20. Tuesday, 29th October 15:00h: The Generalitat Valenciana announces alert level two for the region of Utiel-Requena and La Plana, as reported by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres.
21. Tuesday, 29th October 17:49: AEMET announced the prolongation of the red alert.
22. Tuesday, 29th October 19:17h: The Generalitat Valenciana activates alert level two for the province of Valencia, as reported by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres.
23. Tuesday, 29th October 20:11h: The Emergency Coordination Centre of the Generalitat Valenciana activates at 20:11 the public warning system Es-Alert, which sends a broadcast SMS to all citizens of the Valencia province, to inform in a preventive manner, a Civil Protection alert warning to avoid any type of travel in the province of Valencia.
24. Tuesday, 29th October 20:36h: The Government of the Generalitat Valenciana formally requests the help of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) from the central Government, as reported by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres. however, by this time the floods caused by the DANA had already left dozens of people trapped and missing.
25. Tuesday, 29th October 21:03h: A second warning was sent in the regions of Ribera Alta, Ribera Baixa, Hoya de Bunyol and L'Horta Sud asking them to stay at home and to stay away from and climb to high areas in zones close to rivers, ravines and drainage channels.
26. Wednesday, 30th October 07:07h: A third notice is issued, this time to the entire province of Valencia, asking to avoid road travel.
27. Wednesday, 30th October 12:00h: Meeting of the Emergency Committee, chaired by Pedro Sánchez (Spanish Prime minister).
28. Wednesday, 30th October 15:00h: Appearance of the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, in Moncloa after the meeting of the Emergency Committee to give a timeline of what happened.
29. Thursday, 31st October 14:00h: The Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico publishes a press release in which it states that AEMET is in charge of making predictions, but it is up to the regional government administrations to evaluate the risk of an alert. The document states: The competent authorities (meaning local governments i.e. Generalitat Valenciana) in matters of civil protection are responsible for evaluating the conditions on the population and the environment, issuing the corresponding warnings and adopting the appropriate protection measures.

The Human Impact of the Valencia Flooding

Much has already been reported on the human tragedy in Valencia so I will keep this brief. This map Shows the flooded areas in Valencia.

It is estimated that seventy-seven thousand houses have been damaged with the suburbs of Xirivella worst hit with 11.792 homes, followed by Paiporta with 11,644 homes and the city of Valencia with 7,870 homes. That is to say that many families have lost all their worldly possessions and have homes that have no working bathroom, kitchen, electricity or running water.

As of writing, 219 victims (211 from Valencia) have lost their lives, 73 people are still reported as missing and there are 62 unidentified bodies.

There was a lot of reporting about Valencian citizens throwing mud and other debris while shouting "murderers" at King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain. In fact the citizens were mostly throwing mud at Pedro Sánchez (Spanish Prime minister) and the president of Valencia, Carlos Mazón (Generalitat Valenciana) for abandoning them for 4 days in flooded neighbourhoods without any help at all. The king and Queen styed behind to meet the citizens while Pedro Sánchez and Carlos Mazón escaped back to their government cars and left immediately.

5th of November: Pedro Sánchez (Spanish Prime minister) has announced an initial aid package of 10,6 million Euro aid package consisting of compensation:
• 72.000 euros for cases of incapacity
• Between 20,000 and 60,000 euros for repair of damaged homes
• 10,300 euros for repair or replacement of damaged furniture and electro-domestic appliances

Pedro Sánchez has additionally announced that Spain has been granted aid from the EU Solidarity fund, created in 2002 to respond to situations such as floods, forest fires, earthquakes, storms or droughts. This will be used for the long term reconstruction of the parts of Valencia destroyed by the floods.

Why the delay in sending help to Valencia?

First of all I must explain the heirachical system of government in Spain.

1. National/central government: The Spanish government in Madrid. Pedro Sánchez (Spanish Prime minister)
2. Autonomous Regional Government: The Generalitat Valenciana. Carlos Mazón (Generalitat Valenciana President)
3. Ayuntamiento: Local town councils that report in to the Autonomous government.

Now lets explain the resources available and which governmental body is responsible for activating them.

Now we need to understand the Alert Levels (which are defined by law in the Ley de Protección Civil) and what administration assumes command:

1. Level 0: Ayuntamientos (Local town councils)
2. Level 1: Autonomous Regional Government
3. Level 2: Autonomous Regional Government requesting help from National Government
4. Level 3: National Government

From the start, the alert level can be raised to 3 via two means:

1. National Government unilaterally takes command overruling the Autonomous Regional Government.
2. Autonomous Regional Government raises the alert level to 3 to pass command to the National Government who can immediately dispatch resources from across Spain and mobilise volunteers at a national level.

Opinion: Why was the alert level not raised to 3 straight away?

Pedro Sánchez does not like to override the Autonomous regional governments because the previous Spanish Prime minister did this and it caused friction between central and Regional governments.

The Pedro Sánchez National Government has already raised the alert level to 3, taking command at national level, during the Covid crisis because it was a national (and global) emergency. This produced some friction between National and Regional governments, i.e. vaccine procurement which was done at national and EU level when some regional governments wanted authority over this process.

The National government is ruled by the PSOE and the Valencia Regional Government is ruled by the PP who are political rivals.

The Valencia flooding is a Regional Issue and so the raising of alert levels was left in the hands of the Regional Government, the Generalitat de Valencia, by the National/central government to avoid political friction.

From the timeline of events, we can see that the Valencia Regional Government raised the alert level to 2 on Tuesday 29th October at 19:17h. The Valencia Regional Government also requested the UME on Tuesday 29th October at 20:36h and 1200 UME personnel were dispatched on 30th October.

on the 31st October, the Generalitat de Valencia requested help from the Armed Forces, with the first personnel arriving on the 1st of November and the National Government dispatching 5000 personnel on the 2nd of November.

At no moment during the crisis did the National or Regional government raise the alert level to 3 meaning that the Valencian Regional Government was in command the whole time and was entirely responsible for requesting resources from the National Government and other Autonomous regions.

Charities accepting donations for Victims of the Valencia Floods

Donations of physical items in the Valencia region can be made at:
• Various sites across the city
• Valencia Football club stadium is accepting donated goods

Donations of physical items can also be made at locations in Madrid and barcelona:
• How to help from other Autonomous Communities scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the drop off locations.

Monatery donations can be made to the following institutions:
• Fundación Ibercaja (Spanish bank)
• Spanish Red Cross
• Cáritas Valencia is the official body of the Church to promote charitable action in the diocese

The recommendation of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) was to avoid traveling to the province of Valencia so that the roads that are opened to circulation are preferably used for emergency services and for the provision of goods and services.

Details of road closures can be found on this DGT page.

If you wish to volunteer to help in Valencia it is best to register with the convoy of volunteers, details of which can be found at the bottom of the Valencia Secret Page.

Fake news circulating on social media and other online sources

There has been a lot of misleading information appearing on social media channels, YouTube videos, and chat messenger groups. In general if the media does not cite it's sources, it is probably fake news and should not be trusted.

Fake News Wall of Shame
1. Removal of dams in the river basins around Valencia caused the flooding:. False. What has been removed, at least since the year 2000, are small river barriers and structures that interrupt the flow of rivers and are mostly weirs and small dams only a few meters high that have become obsolete or are no longer in use. These structures do not retain water like a reservoir does. Instead, they were used to raise the water level and divert the flow for farmland irrigation. [4]
2. AEMET didn’t warn us: False. This has been covered extensively in the Valencia Floods timeline.
3. The weather radars were not working and Pedro Sánchez blocked it's repair because the Generalitat Valenciana is governed by the PP: Messages are circulating claiming that the meteorological radar for the province of Valencia from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) was inoperable during the DANA on October 29 and 30, 2024. However, this is false. Although this radar did suffer damage from a lightning strike in September 2023, AEMET itself explains that since October 28, it has been operating with a temporary alternative power supply system. AEMET have weather data for the 28th and 29th of October from this Radar.[5]
4. It's a military attack from Morocco: to ruin its competitors in the middle of the orange and vegetable season. False obviously.
5. It's artificial and has been provoked by the HAARP project: a radio transmitter located in Alaska (United States) that studies an upper layer of the atmosphere (the ionosphere) and that, according to disinformation content that usually arises in the midst of climate emergencies, is used to alter the weather. False [6]
6. It was chemtrails: another conspiracy theory that suggests that airplanes are used to release chemical compounds into the atmosphere with the aim of modifying the climate. False [6]
7. articles that are apportioning the blame on companies in Valencia who forced their employees to stay at work till the end of the business day [7] are as yet unverified and I advise waiting for the official Spanish Government investigation to get the truth of this. It may well be that the companies were waiting for the civil protection alert from the Valencian Government to release their staff from work early.

[4] source: Excellent article about disinformation narratives blaming imaginary dam and reservoir demolitions causing the consequences of the floods in Valencia article by Maldito Clima.

[5] Source: AEMET weather radar data for October 29 and 30 shows that there is data for these dates.

[6] source: Excellent article about the DANA in Spain and the disinformation narratives and conspiracy theories article by Maldito Clima.

[7] Source: Dubious article about the mass deaths in Spain aren't just a natural disaster by Jacobin

The DANA in Barcelona

The DANA in Barcelona was a non-event compared to Valencia. As in Valencia, Barcelona received the AEMET alerts about severe rainfall and the forecast was that the DANA would arrive on the evening of Sunday 3rd of November to early morning of Monday 4th of November.

At 11:12h on Monday 4th November AEMET issued a red alert warning and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Autonomous Region government) immediately triggered Civil Protection to send out the warning SMS that I received on my cell phone at around 11:15h. AMAET issued another update at 12:01h and more useful information like "Already accumulated 150 l/m² at El Prat airport in around just four hours. The storms are moving towards the northeast at this time. The red notice continues on the coast of Barcelona." at around 14:00h the rains had slowed and stopped by about 16:00h.

The rain that fell on Barcelona city was absorbed by the 16 vast underground anti-flooding water storage tanks that activate in heavy rainfall, filling to approximately 50% capacity.

The worst hit area was The Baix Llobregat river delta towns of El Prat (containing Barcelona airport) and Castelldefels that suffered minor flooding that included the main street being under 10cm of water and the underpass under the railway filling up like a swimming pool. The C32 motorway in this area was also temporarily closed. There are also news reports of localised flooding in small coastal towns such as Cadaqués.

Renfe, the national rail operator, suspended rail services at 10:40am as a precaution leaving many passengers stranded at stations, However the service was restored at 17:00h. Despite the volume of complaints this was probably a good decision. Equally, there were reports of water seeping into some metro stations as well as water ingress at Barcelona Airport terminal buildings.

Barcelona is back to normal today, 5th of November 2024 with no major disruptions on any train, metro or at airports.