València host international flood-response drill after deadly 2024 DANA storm

València has become a hub for international emergency management this week, hosting the International Summit on Emergency Management, Disaster Response, and Urban Resilience. The event, held at the Local Police headquarters, is part of the European LEAD-PRO project funded by the European Union, bringing together emergency services, police, policymakers, researchers, and technology companies from across Europe.

The summit addresses key challenges including multi-agency coordination, complex crisis management, emergency communication, citizen resilience, and the application of advanced technologies. Spanish officials emphasized that the initiative responds to lessons learned from the devastating DANA storm and floods of October 2024, which severely affected the València region.

Security Councillor Jesús Carbonell stated, “Since the DANA, the need to work with different actors and collect experiences and all available technology to improve the response of administrations and emergency teams for these increasingly frequent episodes has become evident.” Fire Prevention and Civil Protection Councillor Juan Carlos Caballero added, “This summit brings top-level European experts to València to collaborate on a task as important as emergency management, making it a milestone for our city.”

On June 19, a full-scale operational drill will take place in La Torre, a district hard-hit by the 2024 floods. The exercise will simulate extreme flooding and population evacuation, testing advanced communication, command and control systems, artificial intelligence tools, and decision-support technologies. Participants include València Local Police, Firefighters, Civil Protection, staff and students from CEIP Padre Manjón school, the 112 Emergency Coordination Centre, and international partners from the LEAD-PRO project.

The drill will evaluate real-time information management, activation of command structures, and evacuation of vulnerable people, aiming to strengthen multi-agency coordination and adopt innovative solutions for future disasters.