EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: A CASE STUDY IN NORTH-WEST OF ROMANIA

Emil  ROMAN; Niculina-Lucrina  ŞTEFĂNESCU; Elisabeta-Edita KOZMA KIS; Dan  CHIRIBUCĂ; Adriana  DÎNCU; Viorel-Ilie  ARGHIUŞ; Alexandru  OZUNU

Authors

Emil ROMAN Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Research Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing (ISUMADECIP), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Corresponding author: alexandru.ozunu@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6988-480X
Niculina-Lucrina ŞTEFĂNESCU Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Research Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing (ISUMADECIP), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: lucrina.stefanescu@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7431-2117
Elisabeta-Edita KOZMA KIS Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Research Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing (ISUMADECIP), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: erzsebet.kozma@ubbcluj.ro.
Dan CHIRIBUCĂ Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Corresponding author: alexandru.ozunu@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2563-1330
Adriana DÎNCU Romanian Strategy and Evaluation Institute, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Corresponding author: alexandru.ozunu@ubbcluj.ro.
Viorel-Ilie ARGHIUŞ Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: arghius.viorel@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4489-7396
Alexandru OZUNU Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Research Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing (ISUMADECIP), Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: alexandru.ozunu@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9634-0787

Keywords:

early warning systems, disaster risk reduction, community awareness, resilience, Romania

Abstract

Timely and effective warning sets the basis for building the prevention and awareness culture necessary for disaster risk reduction. The paper pursues to assess the awareness level of communities downstream some hydrotechnical facilities in NW Romania in terms of the risks these communities are exposed to and the availability of early warning systems. The research is based on the awareness on early warning systems of a community located downstream of some hydrotechnical facilities on the Somesul Cald River, NW Romania (Central-Eastern Europe), using the social investigation methodology, namely the questionnaire, applied to a group of 516 respondents from the risk-prone area, by the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) method. The findings reveal the need to increase awareness of population and improve risk communication, as well as to conduct preparedness activities within the local community in order to build their resilience to disasters and improve the knowledge of population on the existing early warning systems.

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