New program aims to streamline institutional response to natural disasters

Those affected by natural disasters and their local authorities, especially if they are small, often find themselves after an emergency bogged down with official procedures that sometimes just make a difficult situation even more complicated.

With the devastating effects of Storm Gloria still fresh in the collective memory, the Catalan government wants to improve the response to such natural disasters, especially as everything suggests that these extreme events will become more common.

"We have to make it as easy as possible for those affected so that all they have to worry about is recovering," said the government's local authorities secretary, Miquel Àngel Escobar. 

With this objective in mind, on Friday in Deltebre, in the region of the south that was among those hardest hit by the storm, will see a new program launched aimed at coordinating post-emergency measures in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Aiming to make it easier to get access to support in the wake of a catastrophe, the new program will begin with the launch of an interdepartmental commission at an official event on Friday that will include two of Catalonia's largest municipal associations.

Two main goals

According to Escobar, the program has dual goals: on the one hand setting up a protocol to inform those affected what help they can expect from the authorities, and on the other reviewing the government's institutional and economic response to emergencies.

"The programs have to be clear, well-communicated and well-coordinated between authorities: to know the role of provincial councils, the state authorities, and the Catalan government, through its departments," said the secretary.

The measures to be implemented include simplifying the procedures applying for aid so as to cut down the time the process takes. An example is streamlining the procedures for assessing the damage in order to make it as quick and easy as possible.

Escobar predicts that the first results from the program will be seen in a few months and that before the summer the steps to be taken by those affected by emergencies will be  established, with the application of the changes taking a few more months.

The program also foresees the creation of a support fund for emergency situations brought about by climate change. "Flooding and wildfires will no doubt become more frequent, and that means the economic response also has to be structural," adds Escobar.