Valencia 'Tsunami' changed lives forever

The lives of those who survived the catastrophic floods in Valencia last year which claimed 224 souls have been changed forever, according to a man who headed the rescue efforts.

Colonel Joaquín Castro León, Head of Operations for the Guardia Civil, which deployed 5,200 officers to the disaster zone, recounted the horrific experiences of October 2024 from the viewpoint of the first responders at a conference in Liverpool on Wednesday.

And the chief affirmed: “We are still going through the trauma. I was lucky because I was deployed from Madrid but many of my officers were from the city-region and lost friends, relatives, their homes, and witnessed their communities torn apart.

“You cannot separate your job from your life in these circumstances and many of my officers are still in therapy. We were responders and victims, and it changed us forever.”

Colonel Castro León was a keynote speaker at the inaugural WinterStorm Conference, hosted by LJMU’s Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies, which aims bring together academics and professionals in disaster management to share research, policy and practice in this increasingly unstable world. (The conference is reported in Emergency Services Times).

Flooding and flash flooding in particular is a growing threat in Europe today costing hundreds of lives, and billions of euros in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

But no-one had seen rain quite like that which fell in the mountains west of Valencia in late October - with a record 20 cm falling in an hour in some locations. The resulting torrent flowing down the ravines around Valencia ripped up roads and bridges, destroyed 50,000 homes and swept people, many on their cars miles from where they stood or sat.

“People had to tie themselves to trees to stop being washed away. Three people we never found, buried almost certainly beneath metres of mud,” he lamented.

Castro León says that, like the debris, the lessons for the authorities – around communication (mobiles went down for three days!), logistics, resourcing and the like, are still being sorted through and is keen to share, or simply talk about the devastating events, with agencies far and wide. Not least, he says, because “it will happen again, maybe not here but certainly in Europe.”

“It is vital we learn from each other, from disasters in France and Italy and elsewhere,” he told the conference.

Despite the force carrying out more than 46,000 rescues in Valencia, he plays down the idea of heroes but instead referred to many “little-heroes” right across the community.

WinterStorm 2025 invited delegates from The British Red Cross, The Met Office, JESIP, Northwest Ambulance Service, Cheshire Constabulary, Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, MHCLG RED, WaterSafe UK search and Rescue, Northern England Hub, Warrington & Halton Hospital Trust, Lancaster University, MMU, University of Leeds and Brecon Mountain Rescue.

Image: Colonel Joaquín Castro León, Head of Operations for the Guardia Civil, in Liverpool today.

-See also – LJMU signs policing partnership with Spanish Guardia Civil.