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Carlos Mazón self-criticizes the management of the floods, he will reform the Council with a Vice-presidency for Recovery, a Council 

 

 

• He accepts the criticism "which I do not interpret as attacks, but as the voices of a citizenry that demanded the best response from all administrations and for which it is necessary to apologise that I, on behalf of the Generalitat, do so"
• Requests the creation of an investigation commission in the Courts, as well as in the General Courts, "to analyze the response to the worst tragedy in our recent history"
• He appeals to the unity of the political forces and calls on the Government "not to leave the Valencians alone" and earmarks the 31,000 million euros for reconstruction
• It details that the recovery plan of 136 measures sent to the Government will focus on support for municipalities, the reconstruction of the productive fabric and infrastructures, employment and the improvement of prevention systems
• The new vice-presidency will direct the Interdepartmental Commission for Economic and Social Recovery in which all ministries will be to carry out a coordinated and comprehensive action for the recovery

 

The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, has assured in the Courts that in the response to the floods that devastated the province of Valencia last October 29 "there were things that were not done well" so "we self-criticize" but not "to offload the responsibility on others", but to "understand what has not worked, detect the mistakes and arrange the measures and means so that it does not happen again".

 

"I accept the criticisms that have arisen and I do not interpret them as attacks, but as the voices of a citizenry that demanded the best response from all administrations before, during and after the emergency. An answer that was not as effective as it was needed and for which, it is necessary to apologise and that I, on behalf of the Generalitat, am doing so", he pointed out.

 

The president has not denied mistakes because, in his opinion, "it is neither possible to do so nor would it be useful because it would imply that we have neither learned anything nor are we willing to learn for fear of political attrition or, even worse, to take advantage of it." n".

 

In this sense, the head of the Council has indicated that the flood of October 29 "exceeded all forecasts and exceeded the prevention, alert and response systems that, since the Tous swamp of 1982, had been established and applied". Thus, he stated "that it is legitimate to ask whether, in general, the system responded as we thought it should" to which he assured "that it did not".

 

For this reason, he proclaimed that "we need to know why our previous experience in this type of situation and the protocols refined and improved over a quarter of a century" that had worked until last October 29, "were not enough to to avoid or mitigate the terrible damage we have suffered".

 

For this, Mazón has proposed the creation of an investigation commission both in the Valencian Courts and in the General Courts, with the aim of analyzing "the response to the worst tragedy in our recent history".

 

However, the top representative of the Valencian executive has assured that "all our action protocols will be reviewed, with better prevention, alert and emergency response measures". In addition, he added that "we will evaluate infrastructure and communication resources at the same time as we will create a system that allows us to act immediately in the face of any crisis".

 

During his speech, the president detailed the sequence of warnings and alerts that were initiated by the Emergency Coordination Center (CEE) of the Generalitat from Sunday, October 27, to Tuesday, 29 October, as well as the chronology of the information that was available to respond to the natural disaster.

 

Mazón explained that from the same Sunday, October 27, until the Tuesday of the tragedy, the CEE launched, in 59 hours, a total of 24 notices to the population with information about the situation and recommendations through notes sent to the media of communication, social networks and its website, as well as the entire network of councils and agencies, "as it had always been done", he said.

 

On this subject, the president explained that in the last ten years, the red alert has been declared on 36 occasions due to the forecast of torrential rains "without any of these leading to brutal floods like the one that took place in high course of the Poio ravine".

 

Already on October 29, in the face of AEMET's alert of adverse phenomena of orange or red level in the province of Valencia, the CEE made a progressive incorporation of reinforcements in the 112 until reaching a maximum of 42 operational positions, which represents an 80% increase in emergency personnel compared to a normal day.

 

In fact, at 7:45 a.m., the CEE established situation 1 due to rain in Ribera Alta, red level on the southern coast of Valencia and extended the orange level on the northern coast and the interior of the province. All this was communicated to the town councils and other agencies and organisations such as the fire brigades as set out in the emergency plan through e-mails and SMS messages to the managers designated in that plan.

 

At this point, the president recalled that the AEMET forecast established a probability of rain of a maximum of 70% with a maximum precipitation of 180 liters per square meter in 12 hours.

 

Mazón explained that at 9:30 a.m. a meeting was held at the Government Delegation with the presence of officials from Civil Protection, the State Road Network, Adif, Renfe, the UME, AEMET and the Hydrographic Confederation del Xúquer to which "no official from the Generalitat was invited" and in which no decision was made regarding the cutting of roads or railways "despite the fact that incidents had already occurred in the A-7 and on the Buñol-Cheste train".

 

Likewise, he recalled that, at the end of the meeting, the Government representative, Pilar Bernabé, assured that the red alert for rain "and I quote verbatim, is until six o'clock in the evening" and that the same time forecast broadcast the head of Climatology of the AEMET in the Valencian Community, José Ángel Núñez, on Valencian public television at 11:50 a.m. As the president has said "identical information" that he warned in a public event that morning.

 

The head of the Council assured that he kept his agenda "fully aware of how the situation was and knowing that the Minister of Justice and Interior had already traveled to some of the areas affected by the Magre flood" and that "all the resources were on pre-alert and the notices had been sent" that the CECOPI was called and that the management of the possible emergency "was unfolding as on other previous occasions", for which thing moved to the Eliana Emergency Center when it was warned that the situation of the Forata reservoir on the Magre river was "getting worse".

 

The president has defended that on October 29 "we are facing two independent hydrological events from a geographical point of view". The first, the "rise in the Magre river and the filling of the Forata reservoir" and the second "the enormous increase in the flow of the Poio ravine, which was the cause of the worst damage in the ground zero".

 

In this regard, Carlos Mazón explained that the first of them had "complete, accurate and timely information" that allowed decisions to be made, while the second was "fragmented, inaccurate and late".

 

Regarding the rise of the Magre and the filling of the Forata reservoir, in Yátova, the president assured that all the administrations acted in accordance with the protocols and in a coordinated manner. In this scenario, according to the president, the CHX did warn CECOPI, around 19:15 hours, that the Forata reservoir could collapse.

 

As the president has said "this is the reason, and no other reason why CECOPI considered the possibility of using the ES-ALERT mass warning system to the population, a tool that had never been used before ".

 

Given the seriousness of the situation "and before the phone call, at 8:00 p.m." from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, who says from Colombia that he cannot guarantee that the Forata reservoir will survive, the CECOPI "decides to send the mass message through the ES-ALERT that arrives at 20:11 hours", which "was a right decision by the whole CECOPI, but above all it is the example that the coordination of administrations did work".

 

Regarding the second scenario, the Poio ravine, the head of the Council explained that the Xúquer Hydrographic Confederation (CHX) notified the Emergency Coordination Center (CCE) of the Generalitat at 11:06 a.m. that the flow of this embankment carried a flow of 264 cubic meters per second and indicated, verbatim, "that the flood is occurring very quickly". For this reason, the CCE activated the hydrological alert at 12:20 p.m. and warned through the usual means the riverside councils of this rambla to set up their respective CECOPAL (Local Emergency Coordination Centers) so that they take the measures timely prevention.

 

The president detailed that, subsequently, the CHX sent three consecutive emails (at 1:42 p.m., 3:04 p.m. and 4:13 p.m.) in which they indicated that the flow of the ravine was dropping to 120 m³/s, 55 m³/si 28.7 m³/s. The 16:13 mail is the last to inform the CECOPI - in which the president of the CHX, Miguel Ángel Polo, participates telematically - about the situation in the Poio ravine.

 

Mazón assured that regarding the situation of this embankment "the CECOPI will no longer receive further information from the CHX that evening until 6:43 p.m." when another email is sent informing that the flow rate is 1,686 m³/s "four times the flow of the Ebro" and "two hours after the last post regarding the Poio ravine" when in Paiporta, around 6:30 p.m., the ravine had already overflowed and the Local Police " he walked the streets warning the population by megaphone" so that they would take refuge in their homes. "An email among the 130 sent by the CHX that day and which are added to another 84 emails that are received" and he added that, "the most striking thing of all is that the CHX, which is present in the CECOPI, does not say nothing".

 

In fact, the president has assured that "there is no record in the CEE that the CHX will send any further communication by e-mail, or by any other means, about the Poio ravine". As Mazón has said "at no time during the night was the Emergency Center informed that the flow had risen to 2,282 cubic meters per second, a fact that is also not included on the CHX website, the last measurement of which it is from 20.00 hours".

 

The response of the Generalitat

During his speech, the president referred to the implementation by the Generalitat of its administrative and management capacities "in the largest deployment of initiatives and measures that the self-government of the Valencians has made throughout its history". Thus he emphasized that all the resources of all the ministries have been turned over in a triple direction "to help, heal and rebuild".

 

Along these lines, he emphasized that in the specific work of the emergency, the Generalitat has coordinated a device of 3,100 firefighters, 8,474 military personnel and 800 civil protection volunteers. In addition, he highlighted the participation of 120 members of the Generalitat Police, 500 local police officers, 9,728 members of the Civil Guard and National Police Force or the 18,800 volunteers registered on the Generalitat website.

 

In terms of logistics, the Solidarity Warehouse was created which has distributed more than 250 tons of food, drink and hygiene products. In addition, there are 2,500 tons of aid stored in 12 logistics centers.

 

In the health area, the head of the Council pointed out that two days after the flood there was a provisional health care point in all the towns in the zero zone. And he referred, among other measures, to the fact that currently 53 of the 57 health centers in the municipalities are fully operational. Likewise, he pointed out the comprehensive psychosocial care or the opening of 399 open pharmacies out of the 421 affected in the affected area to guarantee supply, so that all municipalities have "at least one operational pharmacy office", as well as the different measures put in place for epidemiological surveillance and public health.

 

In the area of ​​education, of the 92 educational centers affected, 55 have already opened for 22,000 students of all training cycles, and the educational reception modality has been extended until November 22. Likewise, he explained that a comprehensive plan of actions has been carried out to respond to the needs of students, families and teaching staff.

 

In terms of cleaning, he highlighted the removal of more than 50,000 tons of utensils and bulky items, the urgent plan for the management of sludge and waste, as well as actions to minimize the environmental impact on the Albufera, among others.

 

Regarding the mobility infrastructures, the president has indicated that emergency contracts have already been awarded for the repair of 12 bridges, 2 footbridges and the conditioning of the various roads for 79 million euros, which have because "11 roads have already been reopened to traffic".

 

He also pointed out that work is underway to recover the Metrovalencia network worth more than 50 million euros and recalled that the Generalitat has launched an alternative service with 19 new bus corridors for "facilitate connectivity in the localities close to Valencia and guarantee the mobility of citizens".

 

On the other hand, the Generalitat estimates an investment of 100 million euros to repair the water sanitation infrastructure of 122 treatment plants and collectors in the affected municipalities that were damaged. Currently, 80% of these facilities are operational.

 

In the same way, it was possible to solve 98% of the incidents in the electricity supply and recover 99.9% of the affected customers, at the same time that actions to replace the supply continue to be carried out.

 

Likewise, a first emergency contract worth 1.7 million euros has been authorized for the cleaning of industrial estates and free shuttles have been launched for industrial estate workers.

 

With regard to social care, the president has highlighted the automatic renewal of the Valencian income of inclusion for people who had this and who are residents of affected areas, and all new requests are prioritized as a matter of urgency in affected areas. In addition, assessments of people with disabilities or dependents of people in affected areas who have requested it have been expedited.

 

Likewise, he recalled the approval of the decree on administrative and economic-budgetary measures to facilitate the Generalitat's response to the floods, and the decree on extraordinary fiscal measures to help affected families and companies which introduces deductions in the Income tax and tax credits.

 

Mazón indicated that these actions also "start the economic and social recovery", at the same time that he pointed out that "we cannot do it alone". For this reason, he has demanded from the Government "not to leave Valencians alone in these bitter hours", for which he has reiterated his demand from the central executive "for the initial 31,000 million euros that we need for the recovery of our infrastructures and productive fabric".

 

In this line, he has demanded the central executive to activate the 2,091 million euros that the European Union granted him in the scope of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and that was approved in June 2021 that includes the fight against floods that "can be decisive when it comes to channeling ravines and building water defenses that should already be done".

 

Likewise, he has also advanced that the activation of the Water Digitization PERTE will be requested, which is endowed with 3,060 million euros and which was approved in March 2022 to "have technologies, already existing and that they are applied in other basins, such as the Ebro".

 

Recovery Plan

The head of the Council has referred to the approval of an "extraordinary and ambitious plan" with 136 measures sent to the Government of Spain to work together in the economic, social, structural and environmental recovery of Valencia and all the Valencian Community.

 

The plan consists of 5 major axes: support for municipalities, economic recovery, employment, European funds and infrastructure and prevention.

 

Thus, in initial support to municipalities, the plan foresees direct aid from the Generalitat. Likewise, a subsidy of one million euros will be requested from the Government for each affected locality. In total, these measures represent an investment of 75 million euros.

 

Likewise, he mentioned the approval of a sports infrastructure plan endowed with 100 million euros "to rebuild and rehabilitate all the damaged facilities". In addition, the president has pointed out that a request has been made to the State for a direct aid fund for sportsmen of 15 million euros.

 

In the area of ​​economic recovery, the focus will be on support for families, farmers, the self-employed and companies. Thus, a fund of 250 million euros will be made available to help municipalities and families with essential expenses. Specifically, 6,000 euros will be allocated for "urgent and essential expenses and the purchase of furniture, household appliances and clothes".

 

Likewise, he has informed the Government of the request for the reduction of personal income tax modules, tax exemptions in the special tax on certain means of transport, as well as the exemption in transit fees. He has also urged the central executive to "expand and improve" the 838 million euro aid line for businesses.

 

In terms of mobility, the Central Government has also been requested to launch a new plan for affected commercial and private vehicles, with an investment of 864 million euros for passenger cars, vans and other vehicles light vehicles, and 400 million euros for heavy vehicles.

 

In addition, the creation of a specific fund to cover damage in dealerships and vehicle parks, and the repair of infrastructure and damage coverage in the industrial sector. In this section, the investment of 25 million is demanded for the repair of energy supplies in the industry and 132 million euros for the bonus on the electricity bill in the affected companies.

 

In the axis of employment and labor activation to "protect jobs and ensure that those affected can maintain their income" the activation of ERTEs has been launched by force majeure "because the affected workers access to benefits quickly and without obstacles".

 

Along these lines, the president has also indicated that the Government has been requested "an extraordinary benefit for cessation of activity for self-employed people and farmers" who will be able to benefit from direct aid of up to 6,000 euros, as well such as the suspension of tax obligations and administrative notifications during the emergency period. Similarly, for the self-employed, the tax module will be reduced and a new fiscal calendar will be established that allows those affected to comply with their obligations.

 

On the other hand, Mazón has pointed out that the workers who are in ERTE will be offered training to "improve their skills and abilities and prepare them for the new labor challenges". A measure that will benefit 40,000 workers in the next six months. Likewise, local employment in recovery or rehabilitation tasks will be encouraged.

 

Regarding the axis of European funds and international cooperation, the president pointed out that the Generalitat has requested that the Government of Spain activate the European Solidarity Fund "to immediately finance the restoration of infrastructure, public services, and urgent assistance to the affected population".

 

Likewise, the State has been urged to ask the European Union to create an "extraordinary fund to alleviate the economic and social damages of the DANA", similar to the REACT fund, which was created to face the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

With regard to the area of ​​infrastructure and prevention, it will provide for the improvement of drainage and early warning systems, as well as the construction of canalization works in rivers and areas with the risk of flooding, for which which has required "a real commitment to working together and a will to always put people first".

 

In this sense, Mazón has underlined the commitment to the immediate implementation of extraordinary measures and the mobilization of significant resources to "meet the urgent needs of our citizens".

 

This is how he referred to the Generalitat's mobilization of direct aid worth an initial 200 million euros to deal with the loss of basic goods, 50 million for direct aid to councils of the affected towns or the program of 50 million euros for rentals.

 

The head of the Council has also highlighted the expansion of the Valencian income of inclusion and simplification of procedures, the emergency contracts for infrastructures and public centers with 2.5 million euros, the tax benefits for those affected, the 'exemption from the sanitation fee, support to the agricultural sector with the rehabilitation of rural roads with an investment of 20 million euros, the repair of critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and the Metrovalencia network with 100 million euros or the restoration of electrical services, among others.

 

Thus, he indicated that "the Generalitat will continue to work in a spirit of unity and solidarity so that the Valencian Community emerges from this crisis stronger, more resilient and with a future full of opportunities".

 

During his speech, the president demanded "an agile and sincere collaboration that translates into concrete actions and tangible results" and expressed the willingness of the Generalitat to collaborate with the central government and any other institution "to add efforts in the reconstruction of our community".

 

The Recovery Council

During his speech, the president advanced a new Council for Recovery that "was born with a clear and firm purpose: to ensure the economic and social recovery of every corner of our land that will allow us to deal with the needs of today and the tomorrow's challenges".

 

In this way, he has announced the creation of a new Vice-Presidency and Ministry for Economic and Social Recovery that will be in charge of "coordinating the economic and social reconstruction of Valencia and the Valencian Community, and all the actions to overcome adversities and establish the foundations for a future that we will build from now on".

 

Thus, he explained that the mission of this vice-presidency is to "integrate and strengthen all the strategic areas of our economy and its social connection". Thus, she will be responsible for the management of European funds until the employment boost; support for small and medium-sized businesses or the promotion of co-operatives and innovation, among others.

 

The head of the Council assured that this vice-presidency will be "the gateway to new projects, investments that generate employment, policies that respond to families and workers", while adding that "we want each person finds their place in the recovery and feels that they are part of this rebirth".

 

Likewise, the Vice-Presidency will direct the Interdepartmental Commission for Economic and Social Recovery in which all the councilors of the Generalitat Valenciana will be in order to carry out a "coordinated, comprehensive and coherent" action for the recovery of what the flood has destroyed and thus benefiting the entire Valencian Community.

 

The top representative of the Valencian executive has also emphasized strengthening and improving Emergency services to "respond to crisis situations in a more agile, quick and coordinated way, as well as to anticipate these as far as possible".

 

On this subject, he pointed to the creation of a new Ministry of Emergencies and Interior "designed exclusively to protect and ensure the safety of all Valencians". For this reason, he has indicated that in addition to acting in crisis situations, he will also "have among his powers prevention action, anticipation of any threat to our well-being and security".

 

In this way, this Ministry will have among its powers "risk analysis, the coordination of drills and the design of action protocols that protect lives and minimize damage".

 

The president explained that this new department will work with all administrations "to enhance prevention policies and design and adjust response and aid protocols", in addition to promoting "a culture of emergency" among citizens "that it reaches every home, every school and every workplace".

 

On the other hand, this new ministry will have the powers "to review, update and demand from the Government of Spain the modification of the warning and response protocols in the face of catastrophes".

 

Acknowledgments

The president has thanked the professionals of the emergency services, firefighters, civil protection, forces and security forces of the state, Military Emergency Unit and troops of the three armies, as well as a special thanks to the thousands of volunteers who these days they have come to help "in an admirable collective act of commitment and fraternity that Valencian society will never forget".

 

Likewise, he has enhanced the collaboration of the rest of the regional governments, councils, town councils, companies, NGOs, associations and thousands of citizens who have sent aid. In addition, he has highlighted the recognition that the mayors and mayoresses of the municipalities affected by the floods, the Provincial Council of Valencia or the Government Delegation deserve.