Resilient infrastructures: managing risks from water-related hazards. The Storm Alex case study

Storm Alex hit Western Europe from 1 to 7 October 2020, becoming one of the most extreme climatic events in the current decades. The storm caused widespread destruction, especially in France and northern Italy. In Piedmont exceptional rainfall triggered landslides, floods and the collapse of numerous critical infrastructures including bridges and state roads, highlighting serious territorial and systemic vulnerabilities. The first section of this thesis aims to analyse the event with particular focus on the most affected areas in Piedmont, through a multidisciplinary approach that combines hydro-meteorological analysis, reconstruction of infrastructure damage, examination of the causes of failure and assessment of the responses made before and during the event. The aim of this thesis is to assess how effective existing risk mitigation measures were in reducing impacts, their limitations in relation to the intensity of the event and whether, as a result of the devastating effects on the territory, more effective measures have been proposed and implemented, or existing ones enhanced. The central part of the thesis focuses on analysing the role of spatial planning and regulatory constraints (in particular hydrogeological, landscape and urban constraints), highlighting how past urbanisation and administrative fragmentation have in several cases weakened the effectiveness of prevention measures. In the final part, the thesis examines the risk management strategies implemented post-event, including improved reconstruction standards, updates to emergency plans, adoption of nature-based solutions and transnational initiatives, such as the European RITA project. In the light of the articles examined and the evidence collected, the thesis finally proposes a reflection on the concept of systemic resilience, understood as the capacity of a territory not only to absorb the impact of extreme events, but also to adapt and improve structurally and organizationally in response to the new challenges posed by climate change.