Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy to advance multi-hazard disaster risk management

Stefano Terzi; Silvia De Angeli; Davide Miozzo; Lorenzo Stefano Massucchielli; Joerg Szarzynski; Fabio Carturan; Giorgio Boni

doi:10.1016/j.pdisas.2022.100268

Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy to advance multi-hazard disaster risk management

Prog Disaster Sci. 2022 Dec:16:100268. doi: 10.1016/j.pdisas.2022.100268. Epub 2022 Nov 13.

Authors

Stefano Terzi^{1

2

3}, Silvia De Angeli⁴, Davide Miozzo⁵, Lorenzo Stefano Massucchielli⁶, Joerg Szarzynski^{1

3

7

8}, Fabio Carturan⁶, Giorgio Boni⁴

Affiliations

¹ Eurac Research, Center for Global Mountain Safeguard Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
² Eurac Research, Institute for Earth Observation, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
³ United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
⁴ University of Genoa, Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Via Montallegro 1, 16145 Genova, Italy.
⁵ CIMA Research Foundation, Via Armando Magliotto 2, 17100 Savona, Italy.
⁶ Italian Red Cross, Via Clerici 5, 2009 Bresso, Milano, Italy.
⁷ Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC), University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa.
⁸ International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.

Abstract

COVID-19 challenged all national emergency management systems worldwide overlapping with other natural hazards. We framed a 'parallel phases' Disaster Risk Management (DRM) model to overcome the limitations of the existing models when dealing with complex multi-hazard risk conditions. We supported the limitations analysing Italian Red Cross data on past and ongoing emergencies including COVID-19 and we outlined three guidelines for advancing multi-hazard DRM: (i) exploiting the low emergency intensity of slow-onset hazards for preparedness actions; (ii) increasing the internal resources and making them available for international support; (iii) implementing multi-hazard seasonal impact-based forecasts to foster the planning of anticipatory actions.

Keywords: Anticipatory Action, AA; COVID-19; Disaster Risk Management Cycle, DRMC; Disaster Risk Management, DRM; Intensive Care Units, ICU; Italian Red Cross, ItRC; Italian red cross; Local Administrative Unit, LAU; Multi-hazard disaster risk management; Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS.