On Wednesday 30 October, the people of Valencia, Spain, were confronted with the devastating consequences of flooding as the death toll began to rise.
The
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, "what we are
seeing is devastating." "This is the dramatic reality of climate
change. And we must prepare to deal with it," she added.
In Spain,
the public alert system - ES-Alert- was not activated in Valencia until late in
the evening, long after the flooding had begun, and hundreds of people were
already at risk. In the densely populated province, home to 2.6 million
inhabitants, people went about their daily lives unaware of the growing danger.
Although high-risk warnings were issued throughout the day, authorities did not
officially flag them to the public, despite regional media urging
people to stay home since the early hours of the afternoon.
While the
University of Valencia cancelled classes and sent staff home as a precaution,
most residents were left without any official guidance, and hundreds of
businesses did not suspend their activities, putting the lives of their workers
at risk. Responsibility for issuing a level 2 public alert (sent to mobile
phones) lays with the regional government. They sent out the first warning at
20:11, by which time many people were already stranded by rising waters.
A second
alert followed nearly an hour later, urging residents to move away from nearby
rivers to higher ground. While no early alert could have fully spared
Valencia from the economic toll, including damaged infrastructure and thousands
of destroyed vehicles and homes, timely warnings might have prevented the human
cost of over 200 lives – a figure that is expected to rise as the search for
the missing continues.
Moreover, flood
mitigation projects—which depend on the government in Madrid—intended to
prevent exactly this kind of disaster have been delayed for over 15 years.
While achieving “zero risk” is impossible, a consistent public investment could
lessen the impact of inevitable weather crises.
The tragedy
in Valencia reminds us that crisis preparedness is about safeguarding
communities, protecting lives, and ensuring the structures we rely on in times
of crisis are always ready, beyond the reach of shifting political winds.
