Loulé City Council went to Paris, at the invitation of UNESCO, to present the work on implementing the Tsunami Risk Warning and Alert System at the “Tsunami Ready” Meeting, which took place from the 5th to the 8th of February, in the French capital. .
The initiative «brought together several experts of different nationalities, representing countries with this natural risk that can have devastating consequences, at various levels», according to Loulé City Council.
The presentation on the work that the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Loulé is developing on the coast of the municipality was given by technician Tatiana Neves, who spoke about the study carried out in partnership with Carlos Oliveira and Mónica Ferreira, teachers and researchers from Instituto Superior Técnico .
«The vulnerability of the building, the elevation of the terrain, the floodable area, the evacuation paths and respective population flows to the safe zone, risk awareness and communication, as well as some constraints regarding the implementation of the project, were the themes addressed", summarized the municipality.
The process of implementing signage in the municipality (evacuation routes and respective meeting points) is «being developed in two phases, the first in the parish of Quarteira, and a second phase in the parish of Almancil, the latter still under study».
In addition to Tatiana Neves, the technician Fernando Leandro and the Municipal Civil Protection coordinator, João Matos Lima, represented the Municipal Civil Protection Service, «having been integrated as observers in the remaining days of this international meeting, where the sharing of knowledge, good practices, experiences and debate of ideas around tsunami risk».
«Several working groups representing their countries, which are part of the first phase of the CoastWAVE project, spoke about the work carried out in their territories. Shares that allowed reflection, by involving the technicians present in an open and constructive dialogue, about what has already been done and the challenges that have arisen».
“Tsunami Ready” is an international community recognition program developed by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, with the aim of building resilient communities through awareness and preparedness strategies that will protect lives, livelihoods and properties against tsunamis in different regions.
This program includes the CoastWAVE project, financed by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Union, which officially started on September 1, 2021.
«In the last two and a half years, efforts have been dedicated to implementing the activities of this project in three components: risk perception and guidance of communities to be ready in the event of a tsunami; improving detection and alert systems; the maintenance of the sea level monitoring device”, stated the Loulé municipality.
The CoastWAVE project ends on June 30th, but «the team continues to make efforts to ensure that the main objectives are achieved, as well as the challenges and future actions related to the complete implementation of the project, namely a strong focus on awareness raising, training and exercises to the communities most exposed to this risk, with the main aim of promoting a culture of prevention, preparedness and education for risk, which aims to make the territory and communities more resilient».
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