Civil Protection Exercise to Test New Procedures at Campi Flegrei

On Monday, the first civil protection exercise will be held to test the procedures introduced by the expedited planning on bradyseism at the Campi Flegrei. This was announced by the Campania Region. In particular, the operational strategies introduced for scenarios 1 (which refers to a situation where seismicity causes limited and localized damage in small portions of the intervention zone) and 2 (which refers to a scenario where seismicity causes more severe damage in larger portions of the territory) will be tested. According to the planning, specific operational strategies are foreseen for each of the two situations: for the first scenario, an action is planned to be carried out by the local and regional level in conjunction with the national level, for the second scenario, the operational response instead involves the involvement of the national level with coordination entrusted to the Civil Protection Operational Committee and the subsequent possible activation of DiComaC, the Command and Control Directorate, as well as a possible mobilization of the National Civil Protection System. Monday's exercise will test both procedures to allow the system to be more prepared for the actions to be taken according to the Plan in case of need. For this reason, the test concerns only the 'command posts', it will not involve the population but only the institutional subjects involved: the Municipalities of Naples, Bacoli, Pozzuoli, Quarto, Marano, Monte di Procida, Giugliano in Campania, the Prefecture of Naples, the Campania Region, the Metropolitan City of Naples, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology - Vesuvian Observatory and the Department of Civil Protection. As part of the exercise, the Campania Region will set up the Operational Room (Soru) and the Emercom Room as it would really be done in case of need, with the activation of all the involved functions: coordination and liaison with the Coc (Municipal Operational Centers), assistance to the population, volunteering, damage census, logistics, communication to the population and the press. Evacuation drills will also be carried out in four schools: the Madonna Assunta institute in Bagnoli in the municipality of Naples, the Paolo di Tarso institute in the municipality of Bacoli, the San Giuseppe and Giacinto Diano schools in the municipality of Pozzuoli. Following Monday's exercise, a further test will always be held within the procedures provided by the Bradyseismic Planning: it will take place on May 30 and 31 next and will serve to verify the operational actions related to the third scenario in which it is assumed that soil deformations undergo an increase in uplift. In addition, a third and broader exercise is scheduled for October to test the operational response in case of volcanic risk within the National Campi Flegrei Plan which has already been tested by 'Exe Flegrei 2019' and which, thanks to that experience, has been updated.