The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has inquired with the 112 Service of the Valencian Community if they have initiated any internal investigation to determine how an audio of a telephone conversation between a forecaster from the agency and a technician from the 112 on October 29, 2024, the day the dana devastated the province of Valencia, was leaked.
This is indicated in a letter, obtained by Europa Press, signed by the Director of Production and Infrastructure of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), Jaime Rey Vidaurrázaga, and addressed to the Deputy Director of Emergencies of the Valencian Community, Jorge Suárez.
In the letter, Aemet expresses its «surprise» at the leakage of an audio of a telephone conversation between an Aemet forecaster and a 112 technician. In the initially leaked audio of the conversation, an Aemet technician can be heard saying: «In principle, we will not bother you with more warnings. The ones from the morning have been confirmed, but we have not made any changes except for maybe something maritime, because otherwise I would not have been able to confirm the morning ones. I know it has been a bit of a mess, we have been raising orange, red. Well, now we are going to study why we have been issuing on a scale and not all at once. To bother you less. The thing is as expected, that the maximum precipitation will go towards the north and, above all, towards the interior.»
Subsequently, the full audio was leaked, in which the Aemet forecaster informs the Emergency technician that the maximum precipitation «will go towards the north and, above all, towards the interior», with a «more complicated» afternoon in the northern interior of Valencia. She also mentions that «at 3 in the afternoon the worst will begin, until 6 in the evening» and «starting from the closest to the interior of the coastal area and moving towards the interior», towards the Rincón de Ademuz. And, at a certain point, the 112 technician tells her interlocutor: «Now we also have the consequences of the rains with all the flows.»
In this context, Aemet emphasizes in the letter that, according to article 53 of the Civil Protection and Emergency Management Law of the Valencian Community, «all information related to the management of an emergency incident managed by the 112 Valencian Community will be made available to all essential services involved, for the strict purposes of their management». «Once the emergency incident management is completed, this information will only be provided at the request of the judicial authority,» the regulation continues.
In this regard, Aemet asks the 112 Valencian Community about the actions that entity takes for the custody of the audio recorded as calls to the 112 Service «in compliance with current legislation.» It also questions whether any internal investigation has been initiated «to determine how that audio could have been leaked.»
Additionally, it adds that from the State Meteorological Agency «the situation is being analyzed to determine if it is appropriate to initiate the necessary legal actions» regarding the audio leak.
Aemet stresses that they have worked «for many years» alongside the 112 «in a coordinated and seamless manner in relation to emergencies related to adverse weather phenomena,» in a relationship based «on mutual trust» that they believe «has worked well, resulting in good service to the public and responding to the principle of institutional loyalty that should govern relationships between administrations.»
«I am sure that both organizations maintain our commitment to society, so I am sure we share the desire that this type of leaks do not happen again, for which it is necessary to take the necessary measures,» concludes the letter.
