In an interview given to There Naples Republic the Head of Civil Protection then warned: “This should not make us relax, awareness of the risk remains an essential requirement”
The Head of the National Department of Civil Protection Fabrizio Curcio was interviewed by The Naples Republic on the topic of risk management in Campania and in particular in the Campi Flegrei. “Campania is among the most complex regions of the entire planet – declared Curcio – thanks to the presence of three active volcanic areas: Campi Flegrei, Ischia and Vesuvius. But we can certainly say that it is also among the most monitored, thanks to the activity of Ingv. This should not make us relax, because theattention must be kept high: Risk awareness remains an essential requirement. An informed citizen is less exposed to risk: he worries about the safety of his home and knows how to behave in the event of a seismic event. And it is our task to deepen our knowledge of the risks and identify all the interventions useful to reduce their possible effects”.
Prevention and update
According to Curcio, It is not true that in recent years not enough has been done for prevention: “The updating of planning for the volcanic and seismic risk of the Campi Flegrei, as well as for Vesuvius, has never stopped. The National Department of Civil Protection organized aexercise in 2019, with the involvement of the Phlegraean administrations of the operational structures”. However, one thing must be underlined: “Civil protection planning only works if it is alive. It requires continuous updates, such as continuous checks of its feasibility.”
Ischia and the culture of prevention
For what concern hydrogeological riskin this case in Ischia area, Curcio warns: “There is work to be done structural preventionfor example with interventions on the embankments, but also non-structural prevention, spreading culture of prevention in people. Leaving aside illegal construction, anyone who buys a house near a river wonders whether or not it could flood? Yet, in an emergency it becomes a ‘hot’ topic. Well, it would be better if they were central issues in the country’s daily debate.”
The Campi Flegrei decree
Curcio concludes by also recalling that the the Campi Flegrei alert level will remain yellow “until scientific data suggests that it can remain so.” The Department is working in concert with the Campania Region, the technical-scientific competence centers that study the Campi Flegrei and the National Commission for the prediction and prevention of major risks. The assessments were then translated into some measures provided for by the decree: “Especially in the extraordinary plan for the analysis of the vulnerability of built-up areas, which provides for one seismic microzonation study, an analysis of the seismic vulnerability of private buildings, an analysis of the seismic vulnerability of public buildingswhich will allow the creation of a plan with measures for the relative mitigation, and a monitoring implementation program, to integrate the network already managed by the INGV Vesuvian Observatory and the two seismic monitoring networks and the structures of our Department ”, concludes Curcio.
(Source: La Repubblica)
