Tuesday was the strongest day of the DANA that is passing through Valencia. Although the episodes of these days will not be as strong, the AEMET, the State Meteorological Agency, warns that the weather emergency is not yet over. the meteorological emergency is not yet over.
In one of their official communications on the social network X, formerly Twitter, they have explained that the worst consequences of the floods have not been in areas where it has rained, but in flood zones.
At the same time, we could see how the periphery of Valencia was covered with water, while the center of the city seemed to be saved from flooding. Below, we explain why this phenomenon has occurred and the importance of a good urban system that is able to cope with these catastrophes .
Why it has rained so much in Valencia: history and orography.
To understand phenomena such as those of today, we first have to understand the history of the city. Valencia, before being a Roman city, already had population settlements. And its location, close to the sea and at the mouth of the Turia River, was a perfect enclave for the development of society and trade.
If we look at other European cities, for example, we see how they are also formed around rivers or are crossed by them. Barcelona, Paris, London, Vienna or Zaragoza?
However, despite the fertility of the land in these areas, rainfall can cause these rivers to flow into the sea. Moreover, in the specific case of Valencia, it is built on an alluvial plain, making it an area with a high risk of flooding. Its orography, flat and with a riverbed, is the cause of this phenomenon.
Finally, when the riverbed of a river is full due to heavy rains and coincides with a sea storm, as has happened these days, the river water cannot flow properly into the sea, as the waves prevent it.
So we have a double combination that makes Valencia prone to flooding: the mouth of the Turia and its geographical location. That is why, as the AEMET has warned, the areas where it has rained the most have not been flooded, but those whose geography is more predisposed to accumulate water, which in some cases has coincided with heavy rains, but not in others.
The periphery flooded, the center of Valencia safe. What happened?
Now that we know which two main factors make Valencia prone to flooding, the second question to answer is: why has the periphery of the city flooded and the center been spared? Here, again, we have to go back to history.
The 2024 DANA was not the first catastrophic event in recent years. Seventy years ago, in 1957, after an episode of heavy rains, the Turia River overflowed its banks into the sea. That is, in the city of Valencia. This episode is known as the Great Flood of 1957.
The flood caused a real chaos and there were dozens of material and human losses. To prevent this from happening again, Plan Sur was implemented. Its objective was to divert the Turia riverbed to avoid future tragedies. So a new riverbed was built that, instead of crossing the city, surrounded it. Now, where the river used to flow, there is a park, the Turia Garden, which was founded in 1986.
In this way, the city of Valencia was protected from possible future floods, but the peripheral municipalities were not allocated such a large investment and, therefore, have suffered more from the consequences of the DANA .