Juamna Moreno, president of the Regional Government of Andalusia, argued yesterday: If DANA had anything to sin against in its administration of the red notice, it was overzealousness, even at the risk of paralyzing populations. “PREVENTION before treatment”the Andalusian leader tweeted at noon yesterday. And yes, the capital letters are from Moreno himself.

His message must be understood in the light of both the torrential rains that Malaga and Granada faced yesterday and what happened in the Valencian Community just two weeks ago, where another DANA left a tragic balance: more than 200 deaths, today an incalculable and complex devastation. Political crisis that will likely lead Carlos Mazón to reshape his government team.

The response to DANA in Valencia at that time and the response deployed recently in Malaga have nothing to do with each other. So is your balance. With the Aemet red notice already deactivated in Malaga (and almost the entire region), Moreno celebrated today that there are no victims to regret, at least for now.

A “busy” night

During an interview on Onda Cero this morning, Moreno admitted that the night was very enjoyable. “movit” in the community. The numbers help understand what is meant: 244 incidents, most concentrated in Malaga, and around twenty rescues, almost all in the La Axarquía region. This includes 4,200 people evacuated in the region, hundreds of incidents involving 112 people in Andalusia and the worst floods Malaga has seen in decades.

This was all due to DANA hitting the area; a meteorological event so adverse that it caused Aemet to activate a red alert, which is the highest on the three-color scale and stands for “extreme risk.” More than 155 l/m2 of precipitation was recorded in some parts of Malaga in less than 24 hours, and at one of the observatories in Granada, Aemet recorded a record of more than 82 l/m2 of precipitation, the highest ever measured. And its historical series dates back to 1972.

And yet… despite his power rains and floodsDue to evacuations, the risk of the river flooding, and a situation serious enough for Aemet to raise the highest level of alert, the DANA passed through the province of Malaga with no victims reported.

Moreno emphasized this today: “The good news is that in the Malaga case the situation is now back to normal; no damage to any person and therefore no loss of life has been reported, which was the main purpose of the whole device. We had established this three days ago,” said the leader, adding that of course the warning was “another before warning that the episode” is about to begin.

The balance of what is happening is important because of the context, but also (and above all) because of the context. And this is not just marked by the current DANA. The cold rain that has spread across the peninsula in varying intensities over the last few days is not the first of the autumn. Two weeks ago another event was recorded that left a very different balance: more than 200 deaths. Although some of these victims were registered in Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia, the vast majority were concentrated in the Valencian Community, where there were more than 70 municipalities affected.

It is therefore inevitable that DANA’s management in Malaga will be analyzed in the light of what happened in the Valencian Community at the end of October.

Especially since the administration’s response to this incident started a deep debate that will shake up regional, national and even Brussels politics. To be more precise, since October 29, almost the same day as DANA, the focus has been on Cecopi’s reaction throughout that day and how it behaved in the face of a very extreme event, hours before Aemet cataloged it in code red. maximum risk.

According to the private meteorological portal El Tiempo, 250 liters per square meter was exceeded in some parts of Valencia that day.

Two calfs, two answers

How was it treated then? DANA on October 29 was expected to be so violent that there were even municipalities in Valencia that suspended their classes. The key to that day is Cecopi’s reaction to the downpour and flooding that devastated the province and the delay in sending messages through the Es-Alert system. fits directly reaches citizens through their mobile phones.

The resource was used at 20.10 in the evening, when the situation was already critical in some places. Just yesterday newspaper Levante-EM It was revealed that “imprisonment”, “release” and even “release” were discussed in the crisis cabinet established at 17:00 that day. CountryÁ To refer to Punt. Another important point is when Mazón joined the crisis cabinet. According to the Valencia newspaper, the leader did not appear until 19.30 in the evening, more than two and a half hours later.

Faced with these precedents and a new DANA receiving a red notice from Aemet, the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Junta of Andalusia faced the challenge of managing their own warnings this week. What was your position? In Moreno’s words, “PREVENT before curing.” “This is the proposition we will always follow. The province of Malaga is largely paralytic With the precautions taken by the technicians. But the goal is to minimize the impact.”

The previous day, the Andalusian Government moved from the pre-emergency phase to the emergency phase in its Flood Risk Plan. And the regional government did not tremble as it adopted measures that, as Moreno admitted, partially “crippled” the province of Malaga. What did this translate into? 3,000 people were evacuated preemptively off the coast of Guadalhorce on Tuesday; to these were added others, exceeding 4,000, due to the overflow of the Vélez River.

In the province of Málaga and other points in the region, such as Granada’s capital Almuñécar, Motril and Albuñol, classes were suspended, the Es-Alert system was used to ask people to avoid travel on Tuesday night, raising awareness among the public, and bus and metro transport services were suspended.

The measures taken did not prevent the night (and day) from being “hectic” as Moreno said. Streets were flooded, hospitals were affected, water reached the Clinical Hospital of Malaga or the María Zambrano station, and railway traffic was also changed; Not to mention the wave of events led by 112; but the balance is far from that recorded in Valencia two weeks ago.

But the Andalusian president insisted this morning on the need for “common sense”. “We have only one goal: prevent loss of life “Of the more than 3,000 people evacuated, only 180 Campanillas residents have been allowed to return to their homes, at least for now. The precautionary measure is that “they will remain on the coast of Guadalhorce until the necessary security conditions for their return are met.” “They explain on 112.

Andalusia is not the only country that has chosen to take drastic measures to counter the alarm caused by DANA. Facing a similar situation in Catalonia, the Generalitat imposed restrictions on mobility in areas most exposed to heavy rains, allowing only “essential services” and classes and activities were suspended.

The reaction in Valencia, which once again dealt with DANA, was different this time. Cecopi imposed movement restrictions on private vehicles and appealed to Es-Alert yesterday afternoon, asking residents of the most “vulnerable” areas to stay in elevated areas.

Pictures | Ministry of the Presidency of Andalusia (X)

in Xataka | The strange thing is not that Spain chained two DANAs in a row in a few days. The strange thing is that they went to such extremes