Carlos Mazón is in the crosshairs of the inhabitants of the Spanish city, since the local government took hours to issue alerts to citizens’ cell phones after the tragic flood began on the night of October 29.
In this way, several of the protesters carried signs that showed messages such as ”You killed us!”while others chanted ”Mazón resignation!”. In addition, some even clashed with riot police in front of the town hall, who repressed them.
Mazón, who belongs to the conservative Popular Party, is also criticized for what people perceive as a slow and chaotic response to natural disaster. Thousands of volunteers were the first to reach many of the worst affected areas on the southern outskirts of Valencia. Days passed before authorities mobilized the thousands of police reinforcements and soldiers that the regional government requested to send to central authorities.
For his part, Mazón defended the way he handled the crisis, saying that its magnitude was unpredictable and that his administration did not receive enough warnings from central authorities. However, Spain’s meteorological agency issued a red alert, the highest level of warning, for bad weather at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
In Spain, Regional governments are in charge of handling civil protection and can ask the national government in Madrid, led by the Socialists, for additional resources.
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AFP
Floods in Spain: the rainiest October in its history was recorded
Spain remains on alert due to heavy flooding that continues to suffer. They are already positioned as the most devastating in many decadesaccording to the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).
The climate specialist entity determined that The European country experienced an October with a historical record of rainfallwhich produced the fatal consequences. The intense rainfall on October 29 They unleashed a disaster in the south of Valenciaa fact that left at least 220 dead and destroyed everything in its path.
Nevertheless, The situation remains alarming, with 78 people reported missing. However, the government estimates that some of these could correspond to the 48 bodies that have not yet been identified.
Experts point to climate change as a key factor in the increasing frequency of these extreme phenomena. In particular, warming of the Mediterranean intensifies evaporation and favors torrential rains, according to meteorologists.
Rainfall in the Iberian Peninsula averaged 147 millimeters in Octoberalmost double the usual record for this month, according to AEMET data. The town of Turislocated 15 kilometers north of Valencia, was one of the most affected, because in a single day, it recorded the amount of rainfall equivalent to an entire year, establishing a new record. national record with 184.6 millimeters of water in an hour.
This town also was close to surpassing the historical record for rainfall in 24 hours, with 771 millimeters accumulatedvery close to the 817 mm that were recorded in 1987 in Oliva, a nearby town.
The month of October was not only extremely humid, but also warm, where The average temperature in peninsular Spain was 15.5°Cwhich represents a 0.9°C increase compared to the historical average, according to the AEMET.
Valencia continues the search for victims a week after the catastrophe
Authorities were still searching for victims and clearing streets still filled with mud and debris in the Spanish region of Valenciaa week after the devastating floods that left 220 dead.
“We are better, but we are not well,” he summarized Tuesday morning Maribel Albalat, mayor of Paiporta, a town near the city of Valencia, which gives its name to the region, considered the epicenter of the catastrophe with more than 70 deaths.
In this city of 25,000 inhabitantswhich has already recovered drinking water but not electricity in its entirety, “100% of the homes, 100% of the businesses have been affected,” Albalat told public television TVE.
Source: Ambito
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