Title page - King`s College London

The Warning-Response Process in
France
Sébastien Nobert
King’s College London, Department of Geography
Improving the communication of early warnings of severe weather hazards
4th May 2012
London
www.kcl.ac.uk
Outline of Talk Today
1. The political and administrative culture of
France
2. Anticipating catastrophes through vigilance
3. Organising a culture of risk prevention: from
warning to alert
4. Conclusions
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1.Political and institutional structure in
France
•27 regions under the
authority of Prefects
(appointed by the
President);
•96 departments (Prefects);
•342 districts
(arrondissements) under
the subprefects;
• 36 569 communes (212
ovs) under mayors and
municipal councils.
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2. Anticipating catastrophes through vigilance
Storms of 26th-27th December 1999 (Lothar and Martin)
Political authorities saw
the need to build a better
warning and alert systems
transcending the world of
sophisticated users.
Torrential rain, flooding and landslides of 2002
(Gard and Hérault)
Xynthia storm, March 2010
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2.Vigilance as a concept for warning
system
« En milieu urbain comme
en milieu rural, dans un
monde qu’ils jugent
incertain voire hostile, nos
concitoyens veulent un
État protecteur, garant de
leur sécurité, de la
permanence du pacte
républicain et de la
cohésion de notre société
démocratique.
8th September 2002, 690.5 mm of rain fell in 24
hrs in the Gard and Hérault dpts, 23 deaths, 395
communes were declared in state of emergency.
This event has led to the creation of the SCHAPI
and vigicrues map in September 2003.
Ce rôle de protecteur est le
premier devoir de l’État ».
(M. Claude GUEANT, Ministre de l'intérieur, de
l'outre-mer, des collectivités territoriales et de
l'immigration, Allocution lors de la Clôture du
séminaire des sous-préfets-24.10.2011 )
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3.Organising a culture of risk prevention: from
warning to alert
•Météo-France
•National
Forecasting Centre
(Toulouse)
•Interregional
Meteorological
centres (CMIR, 7)
•SPC or Flood
Prediction services
(22) and InVS (heat
waves)
•Departmental
Meteorological
Centres (CDM, 96)
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Vigilance structure and crisis
management
Meteo-France
National Centre
Institut de veille sanitaire for
Heat waves
Shapi
Meteo-France
Interregional Centres
SPC
Meteo-France
Departmental Centres
Vigilance
Prefect of dept
Service Interministeriel
de defence et de
protection civile
(SIDPC)
Prefect of zones and
COZ
Mayor
COGIC
Citizens
COD (centre operationel de departement)
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Conclusions
•Warning responses in France are based on the concept of vigilance, which
does not incorporate information beyond 24 hrs at the scale of the
department;
•Vigilance warnings are consulted as a guide, but it is only when the
Prefects received Red alerts that measures are taken for the protection of
citizens. There is a great reliance on the PCS prepared by the mayors as
well as the ORSEC meant to organise civil protection procedures;
•Most of the risk prevention culture in France comes from structural
measures (Dikes) and an engineer culture that has made professional
expertise central to natural hazards management;
•Liabilities and blame are organised in ways that makes it very difficult to use
any form of information containing uncertainties.
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