Ferrol, April 8th, 2024.- A storm hit the Comarca de Ferrolterra, the heavy rains and the accumulation and dragging of tree branches caused a break in the wall of the Presa do Rei, generating an uncontrolled outflow of water. This is the fictitious incident that will lead to the drill that will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, April 9th, between 09:30 and 13:00, in the vicinity of this reservoir located between the municipalities of Narón and Neda. The drill was conceived within the framework of the European project Community of Valued Experts in Hydrometeorological and Technological Multi-Hazards (COVALEX), born under the umbrella of the Chair of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, assigned to the Faculty of Labor Sciences of the Industrial Campus of Ferrol , belonging to the University of A Coruña.
In the first scenario of the simulation, the corresponding alerts will be activated and the emergency services will carry out the evacuation of the houses affected by the overflowing of the Rio de Xuvia and will start the traffic controls on the nearest roads. In the second scenario, the rescue and subsequent transfer to the ambulance of two people who were allegedly swept away by the river current in the vicinity of the river promenade will be carried out. The fall of a school bus in Ensenada da Gándara, as well as the water rescue of the driver and occupants, will be the protagonists of the third scenario of the drill.
The Vice Chancellor’s Building, located in the Industrial Campus of Ferrol, will host, at 09:00, the welcome ceremony for the representatives of the partners of the COVALEX European Project from France, Austria, Greece and Italy; as well as the students of the Master’s in Prevention of Occupational Risks and Common Risks, which is taught in the Faculty of Labor Sciences; and that of the Master’s in Industrial Engineering, linked to the Polytechnic School of Engineering of Ferrol (EPEF); who will participate in the different activities scheduled by the organization throughout this Tuesday and Wednesday. The vice-chancellor of the Ferrol Campus and Social Responsibility, Ana Ares, will attend; the scientific director of the Naval and Industrial Technologies Research Center (CITENI) of the Ferrol Industrial Campus, Armando Yáñez; and the coordinator of the COVALEX European Project, University of A Coruña professor Sonia Zaragoza.
The drill can be followed live through several giant screens at the Narón Rowing Club. Throughout the day, the coordinator of the Chair of Civil Protection and Emergency Management at the University of A Coruña, Daniel Lorenzo, will be monitoring the development of this activity; the manager of the Galician Emergency Agency (AXEGA), Marcos Araújo; the deputy director of Care Processes of the Nursing Area of 061, Óscar Estraviz; and the regional head of Red Cross Emergencies, Daniel Fernández.
An express hackathon in which 56 master’s students will participate
The Faculty of Labor Sciences of the Industrial Campus of Ferrol will host on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 9th and, more specifically, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a express hackathon, in which a total of 56 students from the Master’s in Prevention of Occupational Risks and Common Risks and the Master’s in Industrial Engineering will participate. Divided into teams of a maximum of six people, they will have to overcome a series of challenges aimed at improving emergency management and closely linked to the drill carried out in the morning in the vicinity of the Rio Xuvia.
The coordinator of the Chair of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, the Prevention technician of the Narón City Council and student of the Doctoral program in Labor Relations and Human Resources of the University of A Coruña, Daniel Lorenzo, will provide a preliminary training focused on the guidelines of good practices when performing a satisfactory rescue in the event of a flood.
Conferences and presentations on the management of hydrometeorological emergencies
For its part, the Hall of Degrees of the Faculty of Humanities and Documentation of the Industrial Campus of Ferrol will host this Wednesday, April 10, the Cycle of Conferences on the management of hydrometeorological emergencies arising from water-related phenomena. At 09:30 the first conference will take place, by the member of the Valencia Disaster Damage Assessment and Recovery Unit, Marce·lì Rosaleny i Romero, who will talk about emergency operations in the event of floods.
After the presentations by the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of Greece and the Italian Red Cross Association, at 11:45 a.m., the deputy general director of Meteorology and Climate Change of the Xunta de Galicia and director of MeteoGalicia, Isaac Gómez Piñeiro, will speak, who will elaborate in hydrometeorological emergencies. Then, at 12:30 p.m., it will be the turn of the manager of the Galician Emergency Agency (AXEGA), Marcos Araújo, with a speech in which he will delve into the future of civil protection and emergencies. The last presentation of the morning, scheduled for 1:15 p.m., will be given by the CIMA Foundation – Italy’s International Center for Environmental Monitoring.
Already in the afternoon, starting at 4:00 p.m., a round table will take place, in which representatives of Civil Protection from the Association of Municipalities of the Region of Ferrol will participate, who will discuss good practices in the future of the management of this public service, which responds to natural and human emergencies and disasters as far as floods are concerned. The institutional closing and the award ceremony of the Hackathon will start at 5:00 p.m.
COVALEX, a European network of experts coordinated by the University of A Coruña
Strengthen European cooperation on civil protection and disaster prevention by promoting the implementation of a governance system based on scientific evidence. This is the aim of the European project Community of Valued Experts in Hydrometeorological and Technological Multi-Hazards (COVALEX) born under the umbrella of the Chair of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, attached to the Faculty of Labor Sciences of the University of A Coruña, and led by EPEF professor and CITENI researcher at the Industrial Campus of Ferrol, Sonia Zaragoza.
Establish a broad and common community of experts on the experience, geographic coverage and the various sectoral networks on hydro-meteorological and multi-hazard phenomena. This is the main line of work being developed by the research staff of the University of A Coruña, the institution that coordinates the European COVALEX project, together with experts from NALAS – Network of National Associations of Local Authorities of South-Eastern Europe of France, the Disaster Competence Network of Austria, the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of Greece, as well as the CIMA Foundation and the Red Cross Association of Italy
The European COVALEX project is funded by the Directorate-General for Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (DC ECHO), a department of the European Commission responsible for managing civil protection in the European Union and humanitarian aid abroad. It has a total budget of 774,359 euros, distributed among the five partners that make up the consortium. The University of A Coruña has 220,741 euros to lead and coordinate this project.
