Marbella puts its emergency flood plan to the test

The aim of the drill involving more than 100 personnel was to glean information to be able to deal with this type of situation in the future and ensure the best possible outcome

María Albarral

Marbella

Friday, 7 February 2025, 16:27

The 'tortugas' lake in Marbella was the setting for an emergency drill on Thursday 6 February which involved more than a hundred staff and volunteers to test the town's municipal emergency plan in the event of severe flooding. "It has been an example of professionalism and has been planned in detail," said the councillor responsible for the area, José Eduardo Díaz, who added that "the investment and commitment in this area is absolute because it is essential for the maintenance of safety in the town".

Local and National Police officers, firefighters, civil protection volunteers, 112 Andalucía , 061 emergency health services and the Junta de Andalucía's emergency rescue and recovery group (GREA) took part in the drill. Regarding the municipal resources, the councillor pointed out that "they have been deployed in their entirety, coordinated through CECOPAL and with the help of drones and computer services, underwater units and mounted police, a resource that is not very common but magnificent for searches in this environment".

The exercise

The drill began at 10.20am with a call from the town's head of emergencies, Arturo Arnalich, informing of the crisis situation that had arisen when a group of some fifteen hikers passing under the AP-7 motorway had become caught in a flood. Once the information had been gathered by the police and the fire brigade, the next step was to hold a coordination meeting at CECOPAL and at 10.30am, via the 112 Andalucía emergency number the municipal emergency plan was activated.

Arnalich explained that "it is an action that allows us to test the mechanism of the device and is part of the implementation and monitoring of the plan". He added that "it has been very versatile because it has included search in urban and natural environments, as well as underwater and high altitude rescue".

Within the fictitious situation, the emergency coordinator pointed out that "one of the hikers alerted 112 that her companions were missing and, from there, the deployment of resources began" and indicated that "one person died, who was found in the lake by the fire brigade; three were injured after falling from the dam at a height of more than 15 metres and emergency services were still searching for the other two hikers".

In this way, Marbella has put its emergency system to the test, on this occasion, aimed at severe flooding, a problem that could occur in the town especially after the floods that happened in other parts of Malaga province, and Valencia region, in the autumn of 2024.

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