The Generalitat maintains that the emails sent by the CHJ about the Poyo ravine "did not warn of a real risk of overflow"

Continued accusations between the Generalitat and the Government over the DANA disaster. This time, it was the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who defended the actions of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ) and the regional government, emphasizing that "there was no information gap, but rather direct communication between both."

Now, it is the Generalitat's turn to respond, systematically criticizing the CHJ in a statement for the warnings sent on Tuesday, October 29, when the tragedy that devastated several regions of Valencia was taking shape. tragedy that struck several regions of Valencia.

The Consell reminded Grande-Marlaska that it is the CHJ's "obligation" to inform Emergencies "about significant increases in flows occurring in the rivers and ravines of their respective basins." The Generalitat states that the communications issued by the confederation corresponded to rainfall data.

The Generalitat insists that the emails sent by the CHJ to Emergencies "are rainfall warnings, that is, they are simply data on precipitation from the moment the emergency is declared" and maintains that "under no circumstances are they warnings that alert of a real risk of overflow."

The regional government argues that it is the CHJ that must warn of the flows circulating through the rivers "and alert of the risk of overflow," defending that "it is entirely inappropriate to argue that with data from a rain gauge located in Chiva or in the Poyo ravine in Riba-roja, Emergencies should have assumed how much flow would circulate through the Poyo ravine."

"The CHJ cannot limit itself to transmitting information via email, but must assess the risk of overflow of a river or ravine and advise the management committee on the protective measures they consider," indicate the regional government, referring to some of the communications received during this period when the tragedy unfolded.

The Generalitat criticized in the statement the "information blackout" during the two hours that, according to the Valencian administration, the CHJ did not communicate anything to Emergencies regarding the Poyo ravine. The Mazón government claims that "for two and a half hours, between 16:13 and 18:43 on October 29, the CHJ did not inform Emergencies about the evolution of the flow of the Poyo ravine."

The regional government emphasizes that the CHJ "did not warn at any time of rainfall episodes exceeding 100 l/m2 accumulated in 12 hours, as required by the Emergency Plan," while reiterating in the statement that the basin organization "did not send any warning of a rise in flow in the Poyo ravine between 16:13 and 18:43 on October 29." Moments when the flow increased from 28.7 m3/s to 1686 m3/s.

During those two hours, the flow in the ravine increased from 280,000 litres of water per second to 1,686,000 litres of water per second. "In no case did the CHJ send any communication about these circumstances to Emergencies, that is, it did not notify anything despite the flow exceeding 150 m3 per second from 17:00," the statement expresses.

They also criticize that the 461 litres per square meter left by the rains in Chiva exceed "more than double the forecasts of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) and maintain that from the succession of emails "it is concluded that Aemet did not send information from its own pluviometric measurement systems nor did it inform about the occurrence of intense and persistent precipitation, nor did the CHJ with sufficient notice."

It is for this reason that the Generalitat laments in the statement that in light of this rise "no one from the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation immediately drew attention to the disastrous consequences that a flow level of such magnitude could cause, which exceeded the Ebro river's flow fourfold."