Author(s)

FABIANO DE ARAUJO MOREIRA, NÚRIA APARECIDA MIATTO RAMPAZO & MARINA SÓRIA CASTELLANO

Abstract

In altered environments, natural events such as rainfalls can bring a series of damages and their impacts are related not only to rainfall itself, but also to the socioeconomic aspects of the population. This paper aims to discuss the process of urbanization and occupation of the municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista/RMBS (Brazil) and the vulnerability of the population considering the events triggered by rainfall in the decade of 2000. For this purpose, the events were collected in pre-existing electronic journals and official databases. The impacts were mapped based on the Social Vulnerability Index, provided by the Brazilian Federal Government’s Planning, Development and Management Ministry. A total of 33 types of impacts related to rainfall across the RMBS were identified, with nearly 42,000 occurrences for the period. The event triggered by heavy rains with the highest number of deaths occurred in the municipality of Guarujá. During the whole period, the years of 2008 and 2009 stand out with the higher number of occurrences, mainly affecting the municipalities of Peruíbe and Mongaguá, which faced important rain episodes in the summers of both years. It was observed that there was no direct relationship between vulnerability and the number of occurrences related to rainfall, a tendency that differs from other similar studies, that emphasizes the most vulnerable population is the most affected by these types of events. This fact could be explained by the use of a municipal index, which have generalized specificities inside the urban area.

Keywords

Brazil, disasters, rainfall, urbanization, vulnerability