Rescue of movable assets and damage assessment after the 2024 floods in the Valencian Community – part 2

Chuliá Blanco, Inmaculada (PhD, Conservation technician specialised in paintings, emergencies, and risk management for cultural heritage); Contreras Zamorano, Gemma PhD (Director - Real Machado, Patricia Conservator specialized in graphic works and archival material, Valencian Institute of Conservation, Restoration and Research); Sánchez Hernampérez, Arsenio (Conservator specialized in graphic works and archival material, Institute for Cultural Heritage of Spain); Villar, Cristina (Conservation and restoration technician); General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts, Ministry of Culture, Spain.

ISSN 2975-190X – ISBN 978-88-6864-548-9

On 29 October 2024, the south-eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula experienced a severe weather event, characterised by torrential and persistent rainfall associated with a DANA (Depresión Aisladaen Niveles Altos, i.e. an Isolated Depression at High Levels). This severe event that hit the region of Valencia, produced maximum rainfall accumulations in excess of 300 mm in large areas of the interior of the province. the protection of movable cultural heritage, including works of art, historical documents, and other heritage assets, has become even more crucial given the magnitude of the damage caused by the 2024 disaster.

The objective of this second article is to analyse the strategies developed in rescue operations, highlighting the need for urgent and specialised intervention. While the first part - published in pp 42-53 of the the fifth Issue of the PROCULTHER-NET 2 Technical Bulletin (July 2025) - evaluated the most effective methodologies for addressing conservation challenges in emergency situations, assessing their suitability in the context of large-scale disasters, this contribution illustrates the recovery actions implemented by the Valencian Institute of Conservation, Restoration and Research which focused on stabilising the documentary heritage and future measures. In PROCULTHER-NET 2 Project. Technical Bulletin N. 6, November 2025, pp 83-91. KEYWORDS: DANA, cultural heritage, movable assets, recovery.

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