Elche Town Hall is continuing to strengthen its municipal flood protection system by installing new emergency sirens and surveillance cameras at high-risk locations across the municipality.
The Mayor of Elche, Pablo Ruz, visited one of the new sirens at the San Antón ravine yesterday, Tuesday 28th July. He was accompanied by the Councillor for Public Services, Claudio Guilabert, the Local Police Emergency Coordinator Commissioner, Jesús Andreu, and the Head of the Volunteering, Training and Protection Civil Unit in Elche, Pilar Nuria Raja.
The new system will immediately alert residents to potential riverbed surges while providing real-time data to CECOPAL to facilitate a swift, coordinated response. The entire network will be fully operational before September.
Mayor Pablo Ruz highlighted that the local authority is progressing with an emergency plan focused on prevention. He explained that the new sirens are autonomous, powered by solar panels, allowing them to remain operational even during power cuts. Furthermore, multisensorial cameras installed in various ravines enable CECOPAL to monitor channel conditions in real time without needing to deploy personnel to the site.
Councillor Claudio Guilabert explained that the siren towers offer coverage between three and five kilometres. Unlike previous installations, these units feature 360-degree warning devices to reach the entire surrounding population.
He also announced that over the coming weeks, the system will be completed with the installation of flow meters in ravines and luminous signs at major road crossings. These signs can be activated directly by CECOPAL to block access when a flood risk is detected.
The new installations are situated at the San Antón ravine, the mouth of the Vinalopó River next to the Santa Fe urbanisation, the Los Arcos ravine, and the El Grifo ravine, expanding upon the existing system around the Martínez Valero stadium.
