Analysis of methodologies for the hierarchy of disaster risk: a comparative study for the urban area of Santos/SP

• Grant number: 16/05984-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Physical Geography
• Principal Investigator: Maria Isabel Castreghini de Freitas
• Grantee: Carolina Iwane Hotta
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Regardless of its economic power and location, every region is susceptible to the occurrence of natural disasters, and it is responsibility of authorities to develop action plans to manage such risks and mitigate their damage. However, to develop an effective management of disaster risk it is essential to determine which risks affect this region and its citizens and to identify the main ones, which enables the prioritization of the actions. Nowadays, unlike other countries, Brazil lacks of specialized methodologies that are recommended by Federal, State and Municipal Governments, once there are only specific documents that help to map certain risks in particular localities. This research project aims to identify the risks of natural and technological disasters in the urban area of Santos/SP, through analysis of the history of hazardous events and disasters that occurred in the city. Using it as a basis for two different methodologies of analysis to define the main disaster risks and compare your results. To achieve this goal, methodologies of Autoridade Nacional de Protecção Civil (2009) and Oregon Emergency Management (2008) will be used. The first one was established in Portugal with the aim to analyze and characterize disaster risk, through methods and tools that go from the characterization of the area to the planning of mitigation actions; and the second was developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the State of Oregon (USA) having as a final product the hierarchy of a risk in relation to others. In both methodologies a matrix called "Probability and Consequence" will be used to identify the main disaster risks in the urban area of Santos/SP. However, because of the different criteria and priorities among them, comparisons between their results will be required when applied in a Brazilian scenario. Such analysis may serve as a basis for building a plan of priority actions for disaster mitigation in urban areas. (AU)