Giving voice to people: Responses from 2024 Valencia DANA affected individuals

In 29 October 2024, the flash flood due to the isolated high altitude depression (in Spanish Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos, DANA) that struck the Valencian Community left more than images of flooded streets, destroyed homes, and vehicles swept away by water. Above all, it constituted a human catastrophe that profoundly affected an entire community, both directly and indirectly. In response, an unprecedented wave of solidarity emerged: thousands of volunteers, private entities, and third-sector organizations mobilized to provide food, clothing, drinking water, logistical assistance, and financial support. For weeks, society demonstrated a remarkable collective capacity to respond. Yet alongside this solidarity, a quieter reality also surfaced—those who, despite the aid efforts, felt unprotected, abandoned, or left outside the support system. Economic and environmental loss figures, however important, cannot fully capture the scale of the crisis. Understanding the DANA’s human impact on individuals and households remains essential.

This data is part of a project developed within the EMPLEA Programme at the Universitat Politècnica de València, mentored by Sandra Deltell and Rosana Codoñer from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). EMPLEA Programme fosters women leadership in organizations among female students. 

Against this backdrop, the data come from a self-administered survey conducted via Google Forms, which was publicly launched on 19 May 2025 until 8 June 2025, and disseminated through various social media platforms. In total, 309 questionnaires were collected, of which 300 were completed by individuals affected by the event. Respondents were predominantly from municipalities classified as the “Ground Zero” area.

The survey aimed to assess feelings of abandonment and to identify which needs were perceived as in shortage during the post-disaster period. These assessments were recorded across the following time windows: 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. In addition, the dataset includes responses to an open-ended question in which 172 affected respondents described their emotions, feelings, and thoughts following the catastrophe. These texts are written in Spanish.