In the flood disaster that occurred on October 29, 2024, in the southern part of Spain, official figures report that 227 people lost their lives, and thousands were displaced from their homes. Flooding from rivers resulted in the destruction of roads, railways, and bridges. Significant damage was also inflicted on homes, infrastructure, and agricultural lands.
In some areas of the city of Valencia, where the annual average rainfall is 427 millimeters, nearly the amount of a year’s worth of rainfall fell in just 8 hours. Authorities have stated that the disaster is the deadliest flood in Spain's recent history and the largest natural disaster in Europe in the past 50 years.
Valencia, Spain's third-largest city, is also one of the most densely populated cities, with 75% of its population being middle-aged or elderly. According to police reports, nearly half of the victims (104 people) were aged 70 or above. The disaster also claimed the lives of 9 children and 26 people from 11 different countries. The bodies of 7 people were found who had tried to move their vehicles from a garage in a residential building due to the risk of flooding caused by the heavy rainfall.
International scientific studies, along with the floods that occurred in Germany and Belgium in 2021, which caused $47 billion in material damage, show that the highly populated cities and towns in Europe are facing disaster and emergency risks that can cause significant damage.
In addition to the damage caused by the Valencia floods to properties, industrial facilities, and infrastructure, production losses due to work interruptions, as well as the costs of cleaning and rescue operations, are expected to result in billions of dollars in economic losses.
An analysis of the disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts in Valencia, as well as how people died and the economic consequences, has revealed the following deficiencies in the management of disaster and emergency risks.
Lack of Disaster and Emergency Management Expertise in Relevant Institutions of the State with the Responsibility of Reducing the Effects of Disasters and Ensuring the Safety of
Citizens and Protecting Their Property
In the regions affected by the Valencia flood disaster, where approximately 1 million people continued their daily lives, the issuance of an emergency warning only after intense rainfall began led to many people being caught unprepared in unsafe areas. This lack of early preparedness contributed to the disaster's impact.
Criticism was raised regarding regional authorities' slow response to the flood disaster, with many people receiving little to no support from the government or emergency services for basic needs such as shelter, food, and medical assistance. As a result, they had to rely on their own resources to cope with the situation.
On November 1, a volunteer platform was launched, but confusion over volunteer assignments and destination communication led some volunteers to be directed to clean a shopping mall instead of helping the flood-affected people.
“In Valencia, disaster and emergency risk management is characterized by a fragmented, multilateral structure, leading to confusion regarding authority and reducing the efficiency of actions taken.”
Considering the legitimate public outcry and the consequences of the flood disaster, it has become clear that disaster risk awareness and the culture of disaster management must be internalized by all managers responsible for Disaster and Emergency Management, including government representatives, and should become an institutional culture.
In Spain, regional governments and local authorities need to work with middle and senior-level managers who have gained awareness of the disaster and emergency risks faced by cities in line with current developments and have developed the necessary expertise to make informed strategic decisions regarding the analysis and management of these risks.
A Complex, Multilateral Structure Leading to Authority Confusion and Failure to Ensure Inter-Institutional Coordination in Disaster and Emergency Risk Management.
In Spain, disaster management is overseen by regional governments. The responsibility for issuing weather-related warnings lies with the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET), while local governments are authorized to issue emergency alerts to citizens.
For Valencia, which was most affected by the flood disaster, AEMET began sharing information on expected heavy rainfall starting Friday, October 25. On Monday, October 28, at 22:48, a "significant danger" warning was issued, and on Tuesday, October 29, at 09:41, a red alert warning of "extreme danger" was broadcasted, the day the disaster occurred. Ten hours after the red alert was issued by AEMET, at 20:00, when the rainfall began, the Valencia government issued an emergency warning.
Local residents, who lacked sufficient awareness of flood risks and the severity of the impending disaster, did not have enough time to prepare in response to the flood warning that arrived on their phones while the flood caused significant damage. 227 people lost their lives in the floods in unsafe areas.
In Valencia, disaster and emergency risk management is characterized by a fragmented, multilateral structure, leading to confusion regarding authority and reducing the efficiency of actions taken. For effective and efficient disaster management, it is critical that responsibilities and powers be considered and organized in a complementary rather than conflicting manner.
To create resilient cities and institutions against disasters, public, private sector, academia, and NGO stakeholders need to engage in interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration. In this context, all stakeholders are interconnected like links in a chain. When they work together, the desired success will be achieved. However, if any link is missing or faulty, the system load may overburden the other components, or it could cause the entire system to collapse, leading to a disaster, as was the case in Valencia.
Urban Planning Designed According to the Disaster Risks of the Last Century Not Being Adapted to the Increasing Risks of Climate Change, and the Failure to Create a Disaster-Resilient City…
The flood disaster in Spain demonstrates that urban planning, conducted without calculating the probabilities of both natural and human-made disaster risks, shows that cities are not resilient to disasters. Between 1956 and 2011, two-thirds of the surface area of Valencia (an area of 9,000 hectares, nearly the size of Paris) was opened for development within the framework of urban planning. The failure to create disaster-resilient cities in areas close to flood zones and large riverbeds, suitable for natural and human-made disaster risks, made the consequences of the disasters more severe.
During the Valencia flood disaster, drainage systems in many urban areas were overwhelmed by water volumes, indicating that they were not designed to cope with such extreme rainfall events. Additionally, many of the flood defense systems, such as embankments and retaining walls along rivers in affected areas, were either inadequate or poorly maintained, meaning that existing defenses could not hold back the floodwaters.
Scientists warn that due to climate change, large portions of the Valencia coastline will disappear, and the entire Albufera shoreline could be lost by 2100. Flood disasters highlight the increasing risks of climate change and the need for effective preparation for emergencies. In the Netherlands, a 1,500-kilometer embankment raising project is underway to elevate existing canals by 5 meters, with the aim of protecting the country from flooding for the next 100 years. Similar solutions, like those applied in the Netherlands, must also be implemented for Valencia.
Because the Flood Disaster Was Managed with Crisis Management Instead of Risk Management, Many Risks That Could Have Been Managed Turned into High-Cost Crises and Even Disasters Due to the Failure to Take Timely Precautions.
As seen in the Valencia flood disaster, the social, economic, and environmental damages caused by extreme weather events are increasing the costs of being unprepared for disasters.
It highlights the importance of focusing on long-term risk prevention, mitigation, and resilience building rather than emergency preparedness that is focused on immediate response.
Learning the necessary lessons from past disasters and investing in infrastructure, early warning systems, and societal and institutional disaster awareness according to the potential impact scenarios of the disasters faced will reduce vulnerability. Otherwise, as seen in the case of Valencia, it is inevitable that many people will lose their lives, be displaced from their homes, and experience significant economic losses.
“As seen in the Valencia flood disaster, in addition to designing advanced early warning systems for natural and human-made disaster and emergency risks, it is essential to increase the level of disaster awareness and preparedness within society.”
The statement by the Valencia region's fire chief, "Unfortunately, the weather caused the resources, emergency, and rescue units to be physically unable to reach the entire affected area," and the comment from a firefighter who came from Andalusia to help in Valencia, "We are collecting fuel from abandoned vehicles in the floods to run generators," reveal that Valencia was unprepared for the disaster and even failed in the crisis management process.
THE MALAGA EXAMPLE
Two weeks after the Valencia flood disaster, the Spanish meteorological agency AEMET issued orange and red code alerts for Malaga, Spain's sixth-largest city, due to expected heavy rain and storms. Although the extreme rainfall and storm were predicted not to be as destructive as those in Valencia, preventive measures were implemented in esponse to concerns that they could cause further damage and disruptions in the areas affected by the floods.
First, people living in Malaga received warning messages on their mobile phones about the "risk of extreme rainfall," advising them not to travel. Schools were closed throughout Malaga and the Granada coastline. Some roads were closed, metro and train services were canceled, and flights were suspended.
Emergency services in the Malaga region, which includes tourist centers like Marbella, Velez, and Estepona, evacuated around 4,200 people from homes at high risk of flooding.
Thanks to the timely warnings issued by authorities and the fact that people took the warnings seriously, no lives were lost, in contrast to the preventive measures taken after the Valencia flood disaster.
The Failure to Ensure Social and Institutional Disaster Awareness Against All Natural and Human-Made Disaster Risks...
As seen in the Valencia flood disaster, in addition to designing advanced early warning systems for natural and human-made disaster and emergency risks, it is essential to increase the level of disaster awareness and preparedness within society. A study conducted after the 2021 flood disaster in Germany revealed that 85% of those who received a flood warning did not expect a severe flood, and 46% reported a lack of knowledge regarding protective behavior.
The biggest mistake made by official institutions in raising disaster awareness was assuming that people from different cultural and educational backgrounds fully understood the information provided to them and knew what to do during a disaster. In the Valencia region, where the population includes many elderly individuals, people lost their lives when they were caught in the flood in basements, nursing homes, garages, tunnels, passageways, and on the streets.
“Disasters and emergencies can cause severe damage to facilities and disrupt production processes, so disaster and emergency plans are designed to identify risks in advance and implement measures to ensure the continuity of operations.”
In countries with similar disaster and emergency risks, such as the USA, Japan, and other European nations like Spain, cooperation with official institutions, disaster and security institutes, and international NGOs like UNICEF should have been established to raise social and institutional awareness of disaster and emergency risks.
With studies prepared under the guidance of scientists, people living in disaster-prone areas and foreign nationals present for various reasons would have learned about the disaster and emergency risks they might face in the area and what actions they should take in response to these risks.
In particular, international joint corporate companies and strategic facilities located in industrial areas affected by the flood disaster would have gained the level of awareness necessary to make informed strategic decisions regarding the analysis and management of disaster and emergency risks in line with current developments.
The Failure to Establish a Standardized Emergency Management System, as in California, or the Inadequate Updates to Meet Needs Under the Disaster Risk Reduction Framework
As stated in scientific reports, Europe is warming faster than other regions of the world and is thus at greater risk of significant damage from climate-related disasters. Specifically, Spain's Mediterranean coastline, including the Valencia and Catalonia regions, is highly vulnerable to such floods.
In addition to the city risk impact reports prepared by official institutions on the dangers of Spain’s disaster and emergency risks, many scientific studies have been conducted by government-affiliated, relevant, and associated organizations. Thanks to these studies, the major disaster and emergency threats and risks facing cities are now widely understood.
The statement by the President of the Valencia Regional Government that all disaster management protocols were followed reveals that the existing disaster management protocols were insufficient. Countries like the United States and Japan, which have more experience in dealing with the dangerous future posed by extreme weather events in Europe, have implemented risk management procedures.
Under the Disaster Risk Reduction Framework, to protect against all the hazards and threats faced by Valencia, it is essential to establish a "Standardized Emergency Management System," as seen in California, to improve prevention and detection capabilities and strengthen preparedness, response, recovery, and resource mobilization efforts to reduce the impact of disasters and emergencies.
The Failure to Establish a Digital Emergency Management System That Provides a Holistic Approach, Managed from a Single Center with Safety and Emergency Technologies, Involving All Stakeholders Based on Disaster and Emergency Risk Scenarios...
As climate change progresses, extreme weather events are increasing, and the potential for damage is rising in densely populated cities and disaster-prone areas. This has made it essential to develop solutions for risk reduction and management against floods, especially in many areas of Europe that are highly vulnerable to flooding.
In addition to the city risk impact reports prepared by official institutions on the dangers of Spain’s disaster and emergency risks, many scientific studies have been conducted by government-affiliated, relevant, and associated organizations. Thanks to these studies, the major disaster and emergency threats and risks facing cities are now widely understood.
The Valencia flood disaster highlighted the importance of establishing a Digital Emergency Management System that offers a holistic approach, managed from a single center, and includes all stakeholders, such as fire departments, emergency response teams, and necessary safety and emergency technologies, which can be added when required, based on natural and human-made disaster and emergency risk scenarios.
The Digital Twin Project implemented under Digital Emergency Management involves preparing digital replicas of regions, facilities, buildings, and other areas after hazard and risk impact assessments, as part of risk impact reports. The goal is to simulate potential disaster or emergency scenarios and develop solutions based on the results.
For the establishment of a Digital Emergency Management system under the Flood Risk Reduction Framework for Valencia, Flood Analysis and Risk Analysis must be conducted. By using simulations to model scenario analyses, the scale of the flood disaster can be calculated in advance for areas at risk of flooding. Different scenario analyses can be carried out with simulation models, observing the potential outcomes of these scenarios based on population density, water depth, and water flow speed.
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