The floods that hit Spain’s eastern Valencia region killed 216 people.
Regional manager of Valencia in Spain Carlos Mazon admits that the authorities made mistakes in handling the October floods.
The most devastating floods to hit the eastern region of Valencia in decades killed 216 people. A total of 224 people died nationwide in floods caused by heavy rains.
In addition, the floods destroyed fields and infrastructure. Damages are estimated to reach tens of billions of euros.
– I’m not going to deny mistakes, Mazon told the Valencia parliament on Friday.
Mazon added that he wants to apologize to anyone who “feels” that “help didn’t arrive in time, or that there wasn’t enough.”
As Mazon spoke outside the Valencia parliament, dozens of protesters demanded his resignation and called him a liar.
The warnings were sent too late
Among other things, critics have questioned the functionality of Valencia’s alarm system. In some cases, the residents of the flooded areas were contacted by phone only when the floodwaters were already flowing in the cities.
The emergency warning was given only after 8 pm, i.e. 13 hours after the Spanish Meteorological Institute had warned of very heavy rain.
The head of Valencia’s rescue service has admitted that he did not know about the possibility of sending warnings until the evening of the first day of flooding.
In addition, Mazon has been accused of not being available for several hours when the disaster began.
Many residents of the area have complained that they were left without food and water for days. Residents say they had to rely on the help offered by volunteers instead of government help.
Source: AFP