In order to be able to document the behavior of the communities in the event of a natural disaster, the respective mayors were interviewed as decision-makers. Affected community citizens were also able to be asked about the process and restrictions following a natural event.
An overview of the most important legal principles defines the areas of competence for the hazard categories and serves to understand natural hazard management. With the description of the two communities, including the natural hazards and events from the past, measures to improve resilience could be derived.
The experiences in dealing with natural hazards and their knowledge of risk areas in the community were collected and evaluated through a survey of residents and interviews with decision-makers.
The results of the analyzes show that the selected communities have a lower risk potential compared to other Austrian communities. In addition, we found that several factors, such as surface sealing and soil cultivation, play an important role in the dangers of natural events. Resilience to natural disasters is continually checked and strengthened. In the future, citizens will be increasingly involved in community development in order to work together to create greater security against natural disasters.
The students were also able to deepen their knowledge at the ASDR natural hazards conference in Öblarn (September 30th - October 1st, 2021) and discuss with experts from torrent and avalanche control, disaster control, universities and decision-makers.
The Matura thesis was supervised by DI Mayer Renate, Research Acquisition Department
