Isolated Depression at High Levels – DANA (also known as “cold drop” in Portuguese) – is no longer an acronym for the Spanish. The storm was so devastating that it entered the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) in December last year as the word: danawhose definition, according to the RAE, is “depression at high levels of the atmosphere, which, isolated from the general atmospheric circulation, moves independently and can produce major disturbances with very intense precipitation”.
It was this phenomenon, still being investigated by the courts and by three parliamentary committees, in order to determine possible responsibilities, that, a year ago, on October 29, 2024, devastated the Valencian Community, resulting in more than 306 thousand people affected and 237 deaths, who were honored with a state funeral this Wednesday, in Valencia.
Kings Felipe VI and Letizia were present at the funeral, as well as the families of the victims (229 in Valencia, seven in Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia), who asked for Carlos Mazónpresident of the autonomous government of the Spanish region of Valencia, who was not present at the funeral, after becoming the main target of criticism by the Valencian population following the floods.
Floods on the Túria River, in Valencia, in October 2024
Europa Press News
According to Lusa, AEMET (Spain’s National Meteorological Agency) had issued a red rain warning since 7am for the Valencia region. However, it was only at 8:11 pm that the population would receive an alert from civil protection. By now, most of the victims would have died.
In the days following the catastrophe, 117 thousand citizens received medical care and 37 thousand were rescued of places flooded or isolated by water, according to a report from the autonomous government of Valencia.
According to hundreds of testimonies from family members and acquaintances of people who died, in several locations the water began to enter houses and garages at around 6:30 pm, at 7:00 pm there were cars being swept away by the floods and the electricity failed even before 7:30 pm.
Thermal blankets spread out in memory of the 229 victims of the elements
David Ramos
In addition to the human damage, the floods also left a prejudice of 17 thousand and 300 million euros, due to damage to housing, supply and transport infrastructure, natural parks and protected areas, schools, health centers, social and cultural facilities, among others, which is estimated to take years before they are completely rebuilt.
Carlos Mazón recognized this Wednesday (29), the official day of mourning in Valencia, that “there were things that should have worked better” a year ago. “We tried to do our best in unimaginable circumstances, but in many cases it wasn’t enough and today we have to recognize that.”
Mazón also considered that this “is not a day for confrontation”, but defended a reflection on “the helplessness that so many Valencians felt” in the face of “an immeasurable tragedy” that was the “most difficult moment” ever experienced in the Valencian Community.
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The Prime Minister of Spain, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, also considered that “today is a very difficult day for the families of the victims” and “for the people who lost everything and who are rebuilding their lives”.
It was in the localities around Barranco do Poyo, a watercourse that for most of the year does not even have a noticeable flow, that there were more deaths. On October 29 last year, because of “such extreme and concentrated rain” that occurred inland, “the flow of the Danube passed through this small ravine”, geographer Samuel Biener, with a degree in Geography and Spatial Planning and a master’s degree in Planning and Natural Risk Management from the University of Alicante, explained to Lusa.
“These phenomena, unfortunately, will become more common due to climate change,” said Biener, arguing that it is necessary to “educate populations to know how to act in these situations.”
Text written by André Sousa and edited by Pedro Miguel Coelho
The post A year ago, DANA devastated Valencia: the ‘cold drop’ brought an “immeasurable tragedy”, the biggest catastrophe of the century in Spain appeared first on Veritas News.
