Security

Natural disasters keep intensifying in Europe. EU scientists are developing state-of-the-art mapping tools to better prepare and mitigate the impact of such extreme phenomena.

Forewarned is forearmed for the FP7 funded INCREO project, which seeks to mitigate and prepare for disasters through risk and vulnerability mapping.

Europeans not only directly benefit from EU-funded flood prevention initiatives, but can also be integral to their success. An excellent example of this is the ongoing WESENSEIT project, which aims to rely on citizens to monitor and report on their own environment.

Crisis situations such as an EU-wide black-out, or cross-border flooding in the Netherlands and Germany, say, can have devastating repercussions. Those involved in crisis prevention describe the unforeseen chain of events that can occur after such events as cascade effects. A well-known example of such an effect is the meltdown of Fukushima’s nuclear reactors in Japan, after the power plant was hit by a tsunami, which in turn was triggered by an earthquake.