Operational recommendations on hydro-meteorological risk are online

The Minister for Civil Protection and Marine Policies, Nello Musumeci, has provided the Ministries concerned, the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, Anci, Upi, and the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces with operational recommendations for forecasting, preventing, and addressing possible landslide and flood-related emergencies during the 2023-2024 autumn and winter seasons.

In the document, the Minister emphasises how climate change is testing the national territory, especially urban areas. Adverse weather events are often sudden, very localised and occur within a very narrow time interval. The high anthropization and population density of the areas affected by these phenomena favour the risk of landslides and flooding.

In this scenario, the Minister points out that all the Administrations involved must implement and promote, in particular, non-structural prevention measures aimed at dealing in the best possible way with any intense meteorological phenomena that may occur in the next months.

The non-structural prevention actions provided for by the Civil Protection Code are therefore mentioned in an annex to the Minister's note: Regions and Autonomous Provinces are invited to encourage and support local authorities in civil protection planning; the complete functionality of decentralised Functional Centres and regional operational rooms must be guaranteed for the correct functioning of the meteo-hydrogeological and hydraulic warning system; the task of the hydrogeological and hydraulic territorial garrisons is fundamental as instruments for monitoring the territory. Finally, the role of communication and information to the population is emphasised and the importance of correct information during the event is recalled.

Regions, Autonomous Provinces, operational structures and concurrent subjects of the civil protection system are the main recipients of the recommendations. The Civil Protection Department will continue to ensure the activities of forecasting, monitoring and real-time surveillance of meteo-hydrological events and to supervise emergency situations.