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Guardia Civil Report Exposes Critical Failures in Valencia Emergency Response During Deadly Flood

Judicial inquiry reveals systemic communication breakdowns, governance lapses, and infrastructure vulnerabilities at Cecopi during October 2024 DANA flood that claimed 228 lives.

Limpieza en las calles de Paiporta, tras la dana.
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Overview

  • The Guardia Civil report confirms Cecopi lost communication with 14 municipal police forces and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana during the critical hours of the flood.
  • Four Telefónica network outages and a reduction of 112 emergency line capacity from 240 to 60 simultaneous calls severely hindered crisis response efforts.
  • Cecopi’s October 29 crisis meeting was not recorded despite available technology, with officials citing the absence of a formal recording protocol.
  • Video surveillance footage from Cecopi’s DVR systems was not backed up externally, raising concerns over data preservation during emergencies.
  • Intentional disconnections, or 'apagones,' occurred at key moments in the crisis, including during discussions about issuing public alerts.