The Natural Disaster Insurance Pool (PAID) organized on Wednesday at Artmark the opening of the fifth edition of ReExpozitia, the photo competition dedicated to raising awareness about the impact of natural disasters on homes and communities in Romania.

The event, held 49 years after the March 4, 1977 earthquake, brought together representatives of public authorities, institutions involved in disaster-risk management, and the insurance sector, alongside this year's competition winners.

Now in its fifth edition, ReExpozitia has so far gathered more than 300 participants from across the country, with the number of entries increasing from one edition to the next.

'The project is open to both professional photographers and enthusiasts, as well as to children, who may participate with photos or illustrations accompanied by a creative text about rebuilding a home after a natural disaster. The total value of this year's prizes was 10,000 euros,' the organizers said.

Through the images on display, the competition brings to the forefront the reality of natural disasters - earthquakes, floods, and landslides - and their consequences for housing, with the aim of increasing awareness about the importance of preparedness and financial protection before a major event occurs.

'Over time, ReExpozitia has become a platform through which we speak openly about the vulnerability of Romanian homes in the face of natural disasters. Photography has the power to highlight realities we often do not fully acknowledge: destroyed houses, families forced to start all over, communities rebuilding. Forty-nine years after the 1977 earthquake, we believe that memory must be accompanied by concrete action. Preparedness means information, consistency, and financial protection, so that when a major event occurs, the response is rapid and predictable,' said PAID CEO Nicoleta Radu.

According to her, Romania has approximately 10 million homes, of which only 2.4 million are covered by mandatory insurance - a basic policy that could protect them against earthquakes, landslides, and floods.

'This is far too little. Three out of four homes remain without any form of financial protection against such events. This is why we continue to draw the attention of citizens and authorities alike to the fact that this risk - the greatest faced by Romania - must be taken seriously by each of us. Of course, there is an individual responsibility we mustn't ignore, as well as a public responsibility. The events we have witnessed in recent years have shown us an extremely difficult situation. In the events in Galati and Vaslui, around 7,000 homes were affected. Of these, we were able to compensate only about 500. And that is because people in those areas never imagined, not even for a moment, that they lived in a flood-prone zone and never considered protecting themselves against such events,' Nicoleta Radu added.

The general director of the National Institute for Earth Physics (INFP), Constantin Ionescu, emphasized the importance of maintaining a culture of information and risk understanding.

'Romania is a country with significant seismic activity. Proper and consistent public information, along with prevention and protection measures, are essential components of a prepared society. The memory of the consequences of the 1977 disaster must remain a reference point for the current generations,' Ionescu underscored.

Colonel Francisc Senzaconi, head of the Disaster Risk Control Service within the Emergency Management Inspectorate General (IGSU) and a member of this year's jury, highlighted the role of institutional cooperation in building a stronger culture of resilience.

'Disaster-risk management requires an integrated approach that includes prevention, information, and financial protection mechanisms. Initiatives such as ReExpozitia help increase public awareness and support the efforts of institutions involved in risk reduction. I was glad to be part of the jury and to see the diversity of the perspectives captured in the images. The selected photographs convey powerful messages and, I believe, can inspire a deeper understanding of the impact disasters have on communities,' Francisc Senzaconi said.

In her turn, AGERPRES managing director Claudia Nicolae emphasized that, through its photographic archive, the national news agency preserves the memory of the disasters that have hit Romania over the past century.

'The oldest photograph identified in the AGERPRES archive dates from 1927 and captures flooding in Bucharest. This is how the project began, and we joined it because the agency's historical archive indeed contains four and a half million photos - not counting the digital archive from 2013 onward. Over nearly 100 years - next year marks a century - my colleagues have managed to document all the disasters that have occurred in Romania: floods, earthquakes large and small, with stronger or milder emotional impact,' Claudia Nicolae said.

The ReExpozitia competition is among the awareness campaigns carried out by the Natural Disaster Insurance Pool to strengthen individual responsibility regarding the financial protection of homes against disasters. Through this project, the company brings to public attention the impact of extreme natural phenomena on communities and contributes, through a cultural and educational initiative, to building a culture of preparedness. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Nicoleta Banciulea; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)