The October 2024 floods in Spain represent just one in a series of recent natural disasters globally. It primarily affected the eastern part of the country and came about as a result of torrential rain which began falling in the Valencian Community, Castilla–La Mancha, and Andalusia regions on October 29, 2024 due to an isolated low-pressure area. The rainfall was exceptionally heavy, with some areas receiving a year’s worth of precipitation in a matter of hours. On October 30, 2024, the situation worsened as floodwaters continued to rise, causing widespread damage and loss of life. As of November 5, 2024 the death toll has been reported to be in the hundreds, with thousands still missing [1]; this makes it one of the deadliest natural disasters in Spanish history.  What is yet to be quantified is the substantial property damage, with homes, businesses, and infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged; economic impact linked to disrupted transportation, agriculture, and tourism; and emotional impact in terms of the many people traumatised and grieving the loss of loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.   

In the Valencia region, the worst affected, many places received over 300 litres of rain per square metre, catching many people off guard and leaving them stranded and currently displaced. It is also not clear yet whether this will lead to their eventual migration given the widespread damage to dwellings and public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and railway. And, if so, where will these people migrate to?  

So, what can we learn from this devastating event? Although the October floods in Spain can be viewed as a rapid onset event, it is critical to consider what happened before, during and after this hazard in terms of governance. The flood disaster was governed largely by the ‘response and recovery’ components of Spain’s civil protection normative framework, which comprises several laws, plans and strategies promulgated at national and regional levels over the past two decades and includes a National Civil Protection Plan Against Flood Risk (the National Flood Risk Plan). These components include early warnings and integrated response and recovery measures. In most countries, the impacts of a flood, as a disaster, are diagnosed during the assessment, classification, declaration and review steps, which, in theory, should shape the subsequent response and recovery steps. However, in reality, these steps occurred concomitantly in the case of the floods in Spain. The dissemination of early warnings is critical for eliciting proactive action before a hazard is experienced – as people can take action to reduce their level of exposure. From what has been reported in the media [1], the early warnings were not received in time for people to prepare [2]. Though there are no official reports on whether the timing of the early warnings could have been expedited, the importance placed on early warning systems and their timeous use is a clear learning for the rest of the world. 

CMCAN, therefore, adds its voice to the call for increased investment in early warning systems globally to ensure more rapid, reliable and state of the art forecasts [3]. However, the challenge at hand, as was possibly the case in Spain in October, is how the reach of warning systems can be extended, particularly to those who are vulnerable and located in low-lying areas. Possible solutions include more targeted education around alerts to increase the uptake and reach of early warning systems and improve people’s responses; more community-led early warning systems; and more effective communication strategies for disseminating information on warnings [4].

Sources:

[1] Associated Press, 2024. What to Know About the Unprecedented Floods That Killed More Than 200 in Spain, Time Magazine,  Accessed online: https://time.com/7171889/spain-valencia-deadly-flash-floods/, on 09/11/24.

[2] Harrigan, E., 2024. Lessons on (un)preparedness and (in)action from Spain, Prevention Web, Accessed online: https://www.preventionweb.net/news/lessons-unpreparedness-and-inaction-spain, on 09/11/24.

[3] Perera, D., Seidou, O., Agnihotri, J., Rasmy, M., Smakhtin, V., Coulibaly, P. and Mehmood, H., 2019. Flood early warning systems: A review of benefits, challenges and prospects. UNU-INWEH, Hamilton.

[4] Baudoin, M.A., Henly-Shepard, S., Fernando, N., Sitati, A. and Zommers, Z., 2016. From top-down to “community-centric” approaches to early warning systems: Exploring pathways to improve disaster risk reduction through community participation. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 7, pp.163-174.