Source: European Parliament
The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC)[1] works on a 24 hours/7 days basis to carry out its mandate that includes, among other tasks, monitoring of unfolding or potential disasters and their impact.
In this context, the ERCC daily monitors the forecast estimates for potential flooding across Europe, through the dedicated European Flood Awareness System (EFAS)[2] of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.
The EFAS complements national systems, contributing to monitoring and raising awareness about floods and related events, while retaining the supporting role that the Commission has in this field.
As of 13 September 2024, due to the heavy rains and strong winds which affected large parts of Central and Eastern Europe, Member States such as Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania pro-actively activated the Rapid Mapping of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service[3] for floods. Poland activated the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM)[4] on 18 September 2024.
From the onset, the ERCC was in contact with the national civil protection authorities of Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to raise awareness about possible upcoming floods and offered support through the UCPM.
- [1] https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/emergency-response-coordination-centre-ercc_en
- [2] https://www.copernicus.eu/en/european-flood-awareness-system
- [3] https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/ems/rapid-mapping-portfolio
- [4] https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/eu-civil-protection-mechanism_en