Overview

• A joint study by Universidad de Valencia, Aemet, and Avamet attributes the catastrophic October 29, 2024 floods to intense rainfall in the Horteta and Gallego ravines, not the Poyo basin as initially believed.
• The flood's peak discharge likely exceeded 6,000 m³/s, tripling the 2,283 m³/s recorded at the Poyo gauging station before it was destroyed.
• Key monitoring gaps allowed the first deadly wave to go undetected, as the ravines’ flows occurred downstream of existing sensors and on-site vigilance had been prematurely withdrawn.
• The Mas de Calabarra station recorded 184.6 l/m² of rainfall in one hour during the storm, the highest hourly rainfall ever documented in Spain.
• Judicial investigations continue, with the presiding judge criticizing emergency response failures as 'fatal inaction,' while calls grow for integrated watershed management and improved flood resilience measures.