But the intensity of rainfall that hit areas around Spain’s third-largest city, Valencia – in some places around a year’s worth of rain in a single day – exposed the country’s lack of preparedness and led to the national government led by socialists to criticize the center. the right-wing regional authorities for not having quickly alerted people in danger.

The Valencia regional government, responsible for coordinating emergency services in affected areas, admitted to only sending a message SMS warning residents of the impending disaster at 8:12 p.m., eight hours after the first flooding was reported and 10 hours after the Spanish National Meteorological Agency (AEMET) issued an advisory alert highlighting the “extreme danger” throughout the Valencia region.

By the time Valencian authorities acted, “the situation had already worsened considerably,” said an official from the national Ministry of Ecological Transition.

“It is the Spanish regional governments that manage the alert systems and hold the power to send alerts to citizens’ cell phones to restrict mobility when necessary… Why this considerable delay in sending messages warnings on cell phones, advising against traveling or going to workplaces? We don’t know,” said the official, who requested anonymity to speak about this politically explosive affair.

The brief message from the regional government, which warned of heavy rain and advised residents to stay home, came too late for many who found themselves trapped in homes, shops and low-lying roads, quickly submerged by fast-moving floodwaters.

As of Wednesday afternoon, at least 73 people had been confirmed dead, the government official said. The Spanish Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Victor Torres, declared that the extent of the material damage is “incalculable”, before adding: “We cannot yet give official figures on the missing people, which underlines the “the enormous scale of this tragedy.”