Extreme weather marked almost all Brazilian cities. According to a study published in Environmental Research Letters, more than 91% of the country's 5,569 municipalities plus the DF have experienced at least one disaster related to floods, landslides, storms and/or droughts in the last 35 years.
Nine out of 10 Brazilian municipalities have already suffered from water disasters
Extreme weather marked almost all Brazilian cities. According to a study published in Environmental Research Letters, more than 91% of the country's 5,569 municipalities plus the DF have experienced at least one...
The research was carried out by experts from the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters (Cemaden), USP and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), based on the analysis of almost 60 thousand records of water disasters in the country between 1991 and 2024. In total, these events caused almost 5 thousand deaths and cost around US$123 billion (R$630 billion) to the Brazilian economy.
The research divided disaster records into four categories: floods, storms, droughts and landslides. Floods were the most recurrent disaster, accounting for 45% of records, 16% of deaths and 32% of economic losses. Droughts, despite representing only 6% of disaster records, accounted for the largest share of deaths in the period, with 35%.
The Northeast has the largest number of municipalities with records of extreme events (1,765), followed by the Southeast (1,405), South (1,152), North (433) and Central-West (342). The Southeast recorded the highest number of deaths from floods, while the Northeast suffered the greatest economic loss due to prolonged droughts. The South had the highest number of floods and deaths from storms.
The impacts also vary from region to region. In terms of deaths, for example, the Southeast concentrated the highest number of deaths related to floods, floods, flash floods and landslides. The South had most of its deaths related to storms, and the Northeast to droughts.
Many of the municipalities experienced different types of extreme events in the period: 1,814 cities faced three of the four types analyzed, and another 270 recorded all types.
The city of Nova Friburgo (RJ) had the highest number of deaths from flooding (432); Petrópolis (RJ) led the number of deaths due to landslides (108) and storms (327); and Milagres (BA) led the number of deaths due to drought (64).
Rio do Sul (SC) suffered the greatest economic loss due to floods (around R$ 11.4 million); and Maceió (AL) recorded the biggest loss due to landslides (around R$ 14.4 million).
The survey includes many of the most recent extreme events that hit Brazil, such as the rains of February 2023 in São Sebastião, on the north coast of São Paulo, and the storms that left a large part of Rio Grande do Sul underwater in May 2024.
The study authors highlighted that, in addition to extreme weather, the lack of preparation and prevention also affects the impacts of these events. “There are exceptions that climate models cannot predict, but, for most events, national bodies such as Cemaden issue warnings and public authorities are informed of what could happen. The problem is negligence, lack of structure and even lack of action”, says Elton Vicente Escobar Silva, researcher at Cemaden and first author of the study, to Agência FAPESP.
The study was also highlighted by CNN Brasil and O Globo.
Source: ClimaInfo
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