Valencia floods: we need to revisit our disaster communications

The weather had been awful for days. Nothing but rain and it was getting worse. I checked the weather app as my daughter was due to go to Valencia, about an hour from where we live, to stay with friends, and I was wondering if there would be travel delays. I saw that the amount of rain forecast for Tuesday onwards was so much my first thought was the decimal point was in the wrong place.

What I was seeing was the beginning of what we now know was called a Dana (Depresion Aislada en Niveles Altos), an extreme weather front that plunged the Spanish Valencian region into scenes you would expect to see in an end-of-days movie. People were left trapped in their homes, cars swept away, and bridges collapsed under the force of the water. 

Rescue crews in the area were left fighting to reach areas cut off by the destruction and locals have been queuing for vital supplies. The pictures on social media of cars piled on cars blocking streets rushing with water were so unbelievable my first thought was they must be AI generated.

More than 200 people died. The clear up will take months, possibly years and the impact on the local economy is devastating.

A natural disaster but could more have been done to protect people and property? The recriminations are well underway. The Spanish prime minister was pelted with rocks and mud when he visited one of the worse affected areas. So too were the king and queen of Spain. However, unlike the prime minister who seemed to beat a hasty retreat to his car, the royal couple stayed to comfort and talk to locals. It was incredibly moving to watch. The mud-spattered queen was in tears but embraced several residents one who said repeatedly to her: “They did not warn us, they did not warn us.”

We can immediately see there is a communication issue that will need to be unravelled. The warning was not sounded until 8pm on the Tuesday when the forecasts from official sources about the heavy rain were easily available much earlier. The flooding was underway by 5pm. “We sent our children to school,” observed one resident in the area affected.

Alerts and warnings

Valencia’s regional government has admitted it only sent out text messages warning residents of the catastrophe eight hours after floods were first reported and 10 hours after AEMET, Spain’s national state meteorological agency, issued a warning about “extreme danger” in the region. Spain, in line with many nations, now operates a mobile phone messaging system in the event of emergencies such as this. Why there was such a delay in activating the warning will need to be looked at closely. There clearly needs to be a better interface between those with the scientific knowledge to understand the weather trends and those with the channels to warn those who will be impacted.

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And the delay really mattered. If you know anything about Spain, you will know many shops and offices close in the middle of the day and reopen around 5pm. This meant lots of people were on the move on their way back to work or out to shop at the time the flooding began, oblivious as to what was about to happen.  

This meant lots of people were on the move on their way back to work or out to shop at the time the flooding began, oblivious as to what was about to happen.  

Also, this type of extreme weather is not unknown for the Valencian region. Pretty much every year in October we have something we call the gota fria or ‘cold drop’ which is basically what the locals call a Dana. It is caused by the sea temperature remaining warm but the air on land falling rapidly as summer comes to a close. Some years the gota fria is worse than others. This time, in some Valencian areas, a year’s worth of rain fell in just eight hours. Spain’s National State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) says in the Chica area of Valencia an incredible 491 litres per square metre accumulated in eight hours.

Back in 1957 a particularly bad Gota Fria flooded the city of Valencia killing 81. As a result, the government re-routed the Turia river, and the remaining riverbed was turned into Valencia’s famous sunken gardens surrounded now by lovely parkland. However, the water must go somewhere when the rains fall, and one theory is that development in the areas outside the city of Valencia since the 50s has prevented the water draining away as it should and contributed to the devastation we have just seen. There is a lesson here for other developed economies wanting to increase housebuilding.

Learning how to advise people

But it is not just the timing of the alarm. There is more to be done in advising people what to do in circumstances such as these. Speaking to the Valencian regional newspaper, a professor of hydraulic engineering and the environment warned of a phenomenon that only occurs in this type of catastrophe in the “first world”: 60% of deaths are related to vehicles. 

People believe that taking to their cars and escaping the rising water is the best response. But in circumstances such as this the water rises too high, too quickly leaving drivers and passengers trapped in their vehicles. The Bonaire shopping centre just outside the Valencian city centre was flooded incredibly quickly and it is looking as if many people perished by rushing down to the underground car parks to retrieve their cars thinking they could escape in time. 

Clearly what is needed is much more awareness among people as to the correct course of action in an event such as this. Drills and practices would help considerably not just prepare people but help them appreciate that disasters such as this do sadly also affect western Europe not just developing nations. 

Japan’s preparedness for disasters

My thoughts went to Japan which is held up as being one of the most disaster-ready nations in the world. Japan is located between four tectonic plates making it one of the most seismically active nations in the world with earthquake tremors a daily occurrence. I can testify to that when on a visit I literally felt the earth move under my feet but no one else seemed much bothered. It’s that common. Seismic regulations for buildings in Japan date back to the 1920s but it is not just the buildings.

In January, National Geographic magazine reported University of Tokyo professor Toshitaka Katada saying he believes there are “probably no people on earth who are as disaster ready as the Japanese” given the preparedness measures that are considered routine in the country, like evacuation planning and drills. 

Evacuation centres such as schools or other community spaces are equipped with emergency supplies and residents are told to have emergency supplies available at their homes, as well. When I was there, I saw water and food in the lifts of large buildings, just in case the occupants were trapped inside during a quake. The country also has a robust and well understood warning system. 

Mobile alert systems

The mobile phone alert systems in the UK and western Europe are still relatively new; Spain’s ES Alert Emergency Warning System was launched only last year so is likely to be poorly understood by many at this stage.

This is what the alert sent to mobile phones actually said: 

“Due to heavy rains, as a preventive measure, all types of travel should be avoided in the province of Valencia to prevent road collapse. Please stay alert for future updates through this channel and official sources, X @GVA112 and Apunt – or call the Emergencies 112 for the Valencian Community. (Emergency calls to 112 made in the Valencian region will go directly to the 112 Valencian emergency services.)” 

Was this enough advice especially to a population who had never seen this type of message before? What about those who do not have mobile phones? The message was only in Spanish and the local language of Valenciano, despite many people in the area not being Spanish natives. Disaster communications can leave no stone unturned when lives are at risk.

My conclusion in these early days is that Spain – and I suspect much of western Europe – needs to completely overhaul how it deals with natural disasters such as this. If the climate change forecasts are to be believed weather events such as what we have just seen in Valencia will be occurring much more frequently in this part of the world and crisis communications will be needed to play a vital role.

Chris Tucker is chair of the CIPR Crisis Communications Network where this post was first published on 8 November.