The chain of alerts and citizen confinement that prevented the deadly blow of DANA in Malaga

At 10:36 p.m. on Tuesday, mobile phones in Malaga began to ring shrillly. On the screen you could read a Civil Protection message informing of the activation of the red alert due to the extreme risk heavy rain starting at 10:00 on Wednesday. It was the outcome of a succession of notices of the different administrations that began to intensify the day before and that, along with measures such as suspending classes, decreeing 4.200 preventive evictions in critical areas and disseminate security recommendations, caused more than 1.7 Malaga they will self-confine themselves and minimize the destructive effect of the storm. Despite the flooded streets and houses, the vehicles swept away by the water and the landslides, at the time of writing this information no reports had been made. no fatalities.

You have to go back to last saturday to find the first information from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) that warned of the arrival of a new DANA. At first, they focused on Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, but already then it was warned that Tuesday would be especially virulent in the southern half of the peninsula.

After focusing on the impact it could have on the Valencian Community, the region most affected by the rainfall and floods two weeks ago, meteorologists began to focus on the danger that loomed over Andalusia. The experts spoke of areas in which they could accumulate more than 180 liters per square meter and they focused their attention on Malaga.

The administrations began to mobilize those days and, in response to the channel cleaning work, prevention measures began to be disseminated when the Aemet confirmed on Tuesday that the rains that on Monday night had caused incidents in Almería They would move with virulence to the province of Malaga.

Communiqués from numerous town councils began to arrive at the editorial offices with safety recommendations for the citizens. Do not park vehicles near river banks even if they are dry and, if it was essential to travel, find out about the state of the roads you were going to travel on. Once behind the wheel, they warned that You should never cross through a flooded area or with pools of water. And if while in the vehicle you are surprised by a strong flood, prepare to abandon it immediately when the rain exceeds the wheel axle.

These measures were toughened when the orange alert became red and the Andalusian Government deployed the Emergency Plan that same night when it had not yet fallen. The first measure was evacuate 1,074 homes located around the Guadalhorce River and agree to suspend classes in schools and institutes. The University of Malaga (UMA) also made this decision and the Administration of Justice stopped your activity. Which meant the suspension of 396 trials, statements or previews.

Looking out over the capital in the early hours of this Wednesday was reminiscent of the days of confinement due to the pandemic, with emergency services and public transport traveling almost alone on the roads. There were no children on the way to school, no delivery drivers rushing from one place to another, nor a morning traffic jam.. And so in many locations. More than 1.7 million Malaga residents had been duly informed to stay at home and adopt self-protection measures.

Early in the morning, when it wasn’t raining, there were those who talked about hysteria, social control and various conspiracy theories on social networks.

Communication was fluid after the rain began to take its first toll. Through social networks and press releases, the path of the storm and the damage it was causing became apparent. But in more serious situations, other more traditional methods were included. Local police officers were house to house to alert neighbors of the Campanillas neighborhood not to stay on the ground floors due to the risk of the Campanillas River overflowing. This danger finally forced the evacuation of several homes and many of those affected were transferred to the temporary shelter which had been set up in the Tirón Pichón pavilion. One of the reception spaces for evicted people that were activated in municipalities such as Álora, Cártama, Alhaurín de la Torre or Pizarra. Only 72 people remained throughout the day, since the vast majority of the thousands of displaced people preferred to stay with family or friends. Although this figure would increase at the end of the afternoon with some 1,000 new evictions in Vélez-Málaga and Benamargosa at the Vélez and Benamargosa rivers overflow.

The seriousness of the situation in this last Axarquian municipality forced the Civil Guard and the members of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium (CPB) to rescue an unknown number of neighbors who were surprised by the rising water.

The most worrying incidents, due to their symbolism and strategic importance, were recorded in the medical centers and transport terminals. The Clinical Hospital, for example, suffered flooding in the Clinical Analysis Laboratory area and was only operational for Urgent and emergency care. And then the evacuation of the lobby and platforms of the María Zambrano Train Station in Málaga capital and the flooding of part of the Málaga-Costa del Sol airport came to light. Railway connections became limited as the day progressed and complications grew.

The streets became fast-flowing arteries through which containers floated, but unlike two weeks ago, very few unwary people decided to leave despite the warnings. The precautionary measures, however, did not prevent some 40 houses in the town of Almogía were floodthe. “Without regretting personal injuries or victims,” ​​its mayor said with relief, Antonia Garciawho was proud that “everyone has been responsible and has complied with the alerts that we have been sending through the network and municipal statements and orders.”

And, despite the fact that early on there were those on social media who were talking about hysteria, social control and various conspiracy theories, the determination and foresight of the administrations – with the adoption of forceful measures – and the responsibility of citizens It has made it possible for the province to withstand the first DANA attack without, at the time of writing this information, any fatalities having been reported. An awareness that, obviously, cannot be separated from the Valencia tragedy and that seems to have changed the perception of risk warnings.

This management contrasts with the one carried out in Valencia by the Government central and the Generalitat Valenciana. Although the water discharged in this region on October 29 is incomparable, the coordination demonstrated by the administrations in Malaga has significantly limited mobility and citizens were being alerted 24 hours before that the danger was high.

The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Morenohe distanced himself from his Valencian counterpart, Carlos Mazónwhen he stated that “it will not take a minute” to call the Military Emergency Unit (UME) if he considered it necessary.

The counselor of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz, appeared during the afternoon to announce the suspension of classes was prolonged in the educational centers of Málaga and Granada, in addition to being remembered in Seville, Huelva and the coast of Cádiz.

“The day has been very difficult, very intense, and the situation remains one of extreme alert. The forecasts that motivated us to advance decisions important, with sufficient advance notice, were very important to address today—Wednesday. And, together with the message that was sent around ten o’clock yesterday night to the entire area on red alert, with a very direct text to the population to follow the instructions, it has had an effect. I want to thank the citizen awareness that has led to, In the face of a situation of enormous complexity, the consequences have not gone beyond“said Sanz, who put the number of incidents attended to in all of Andalusia at almost 1,000. 760 in Malaga alone.

The counselor highlighted the “coordination with the town councils” that has made it possible to address the incidents that have arisen without regretting personal injury. and claimed responsibility to the citizens in the face of the rainfall that was expected at dawn. “There are difficult hours left”he warned.

The rain gave a truce to the province during the afternoon on Wednesday, when 140 liters of rain per square meter had been collected in some parts of the province, but the red alert was extended until 8:00 this Thursday. A warning that, most worrying, extended to the Valencian coast.