Flood and storm surge simulations are planned at the Rimini Port Canal and along the Marecchia River embankment. The Regional Agency for Safety and Civil Protection is organizing the event together with ARPAE (the Regional Agency for the Environment and Energy) and GECOsistema (a climate risk and geospatial intelligence company). Volunteer coordination from Rimini and Ferrara, coastal municipalities of Rimini, the Riviera del Conca intermunicipal centre, Hera, the Romagna Reclamation Consortium, and the Directed Project delegation will participate.
The goals are to strengthen collaboration among civil protection entities and structures, test the regional alert system for meteorological, hydrogeological, hydraulic, and coastal risks, and improve emergency management strategies related to climate change by sharing tools and procedures at the European level.
The objectives of the „DIRECTED Flood 2024,“ exercise on hydraulic and coastal risks are organized for Thursday, June 13, and Friday, June 14, in Rimini by the Territorial Safety and Civil Protection Agency within the context of the Horizon Europe, DIRECTED Project (Disaster Resilience through Interoperable Data, Models, Communications, and Governance) together with Italian partners (ARPAE and GECOsistema). The municipal operational centres of Rimini, Bellaria-Igea Marina, Riccione, Misano Adriatico, and Cattolica, the Romagna Reclamation Consortium, HERA Spa, provincial volunteer coordination of Rimini and Ferrara, and the Riviera del Conca intermunicipal centres will be involved. A delegation of partners from Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, the UK and Hungary will attend the activities, the results of which will be discussed at the project’s General Assembly scheduled for Saturday, June 15.
The exercise begins on Thursday, June 13, with the simulation of an orange alert for hydrogeological, hydraulic, thunderstorms, wind, and offshore sea conditions, and a red alert for storm surges. The event scenario includes extensive coastal flooding, significant erosion phenomena, and severe damage to beach facilities; simultaneously, rising water levels in rivers may cause flooding in residential areas near the coast. Upon issuing the Alert, actions by territorial entities and structures will be activated as per procedures, including the opening of the Regional Operational Centre, the operational room of the ARPAE Functional Centre, the operational room of the Rimini territorial office, the Rescue Coordination Centre at the Prefecture, the Riviera del Conca inter-municipal centre, and the Municipal Operational Centres; communication systems to the civil protection system and the population will also be activated.
On Friday, June 14, following the simulation of widespread damage due to storm surges and river flooding, demonstration actions will take place at the Rimini Port Canal and the Marecchia embankments, where about 50 volunteers will engage in embankment and coastal reinforcement activities with sandbags and tarps using hydraulic risk-specific equipment, a mobile office, and operational positions of the regional agency officials. The exercise will also test tools provided by the European partners to verify data and tool interoperability for risk management, forecasting, and impact assessment.
PROJECT OVERVIEW: Horizon Europe – DIRECTED PROJECT (attached)
The „DIRECTED_Flood 2024“ exercise is part of the DIRECTED project (Disaster Resilience through Interoperable Data, Models, Communications, and Governance), led by the Technische Universitaet Braunschweig DE, with the Territorial Safety and Civil Protection Agency participating as a beneficiary partner along with the following:
For more information on The Horizon Europe – Directed Project in Emilia-Romagna Region
For more information on the Horizon Europe – Directed Project: https://directedproject.eu/
(This project is an Innovation Action under the Civil Security for Society, Disaster-Resilient Societies programme of the Horizon Europe Programme funded by the European Union. Associate partners SEI Oxford and Oasis Hub Ltd, are funded by Innovate UK and ETH Zurich is funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Switzerland).