The Government Delegation in Aragon held a security meeting this morning to assess the consequences of the severe storm that struck Zaragoza and its metropolitan area on Thursday. The Board was chaired by the Delegate, Fernando Beltrán, who was accompanied by the Subdelegate in Zaragoza, Jorge Pastor. In addition, the general director of Interior and Civil Protection, Carmen Sánchez, the mayors of Zaragoza and Cuarte, the councilor of the Burgo de Ebro and the delegate of the AEMET, among others, have attended.
During the meeting, the situation has been analyzed since the storm broke out on Thursday afternoon, in which a super cell was formed that had special strength when it originated in the area of Alcañiz and Bajo Martín and that later moved to Zaragoza, where it caused most of the damage. The alert system has also been analyzed and the different emergency coordination meetings have been reviewed to work on the incidents that were taking place in the city and its metropolitan area.
Then, the representatives of the municipalities have explained the list of material damages that they have quantified and have been interested in the procedure to request aid at the state level. “The meeting presented the possibilities of aid that exist to economically compensate the economic damage that has occurred at the different levels: road, industrial or urban infrastructures, in addition to small trade in urban centers,” explained Fernando Beltrán, who then detailed the two main lines that are active for this type of situation. To request the Declaration of Catastrophic Zone, that is, the declaration of zone affected by a Civil Protection emergency, a first report is prepared by the Government Delegation in which the AEMET report will be fundamental, which has detailed that on Thursday morning the orange level was activated by two warnings: precipitation and storms. Then, the municipalities must begin to send a first estimate of the damage produced (there is a month to do so since the event is unleashed).
“The situation report has already been launched and from the very beginning we have been in contact with the municipalities to coordinate the device. We are waiting for the assessment of the damage and then it will be raised to the Council of Ministers, which declares a catastrophic zone”, added the Delegate.
If the damages were not contemplated within the requirements of Catastrophic Zone there is also another line of subsidies regulated by Royal Decree 307/2005 also for needs derived from emergency situations or of catastrophic nature.
In addition, all affected persons are requested to check whether the damages are already covered, since everything collected by private insurance or by the insurance compensation consortium is no longer part of the aid promoted by the State. So, making a collection of damages and removing those that have been compensated by insurance, is when the Government of Spain would already do the procedure to approve the necessary aid.
The meeting was also attended by the colonel head of the Civil Guard Command of Zaragoza, Luis Germán Avilés; the provincial head of the National Police, Francisco Javier Abadía, representatives of the Local Police, Firemen and Civil Protection of Zaragoza and Cuarte and the director of the provincial Education Service of Huesca, Olga Alastruey.