Floods in Rio Grande do Sul put a city’s resilience to the test: lessons from Veranópolis

In May 2024 Brazil's State of Rio Grande do Sul was struck by catastrophic floods. The city of Veranópolis was one of the affected towns - and our Risk Management Plan, set up as part of its implementation of MCR2030 resilience building, was put to the test.

In 2021, the city established the Veranópolis Resilient City Program, guided by the ten steps proposed by UNDRR's Making Cities Resilient initiative. By 2022, we had formulated a Risk Management Plan (RMP) to identify potential risks, create preventative actions, enhance response decisions, and monitor risks. The plan included a study which identified landslides and flooding as high-risk threats to the municipality.

Unprecedented flooding hit the State In May 2024, heavy rains hit the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil, causing the largest flood in the history of the State, surpassing the historic flood of 1941. As a result, 461 of the State's 497 municipalities were badly affected. 41 of these were in a state of public calamity, 277 in an emergency situation, affecting a population of 2.3 million.

Several cities in the state were completely inundated, leaving 77 202 people homeless and 540 188 displaced. In Veranópolis, excess soil moisture triggered landslides, blocking the main access road to the capital at several points.

However, the Veranópolis public pulled together to execute our Risk Management Plan, demonstrating the real benefits of our efforts to make our city resilient.

Municipality of Veranópolis

Infrastructure to prevent landslides

Long before the flood, we had mapped the places where landslides occur, to guide residents of susceptible areas - particularly those where there had been land clearance- and built retaining walls and drainage in the mapped locations.

When the disaster occurred, we observed that in those places in the municipality where retaining and drainage walls were built, there was no damage. However, with the accumulated rainfall of 728.4mm in nine days, we found new places where it was necessary to improve landslide-prevention infrastructure - including along the main access road.

Restoring social stability and conducting clean-up operations

Once the flooding began, we carried out the RMP's social and operational plan.

The plan included several elements to ensure social well-being:

• Displaced residents were welcomed to temporary accommodation, where they were provided privacy. The team had a well-organized triage service to refer them to shelters and offer multi-professional care. The city supplied warm clothes, food, and hygiene services, to help restore the wellbeing and health of those affected.
• Provisions for public housing, rent subsidies and construction materials were granted through the Housing Department.

The city also operationalized its contingency plans, activating the Fire Department, Military Brigade, Federal or State Highway Police, Department of Works and Infrastructure, and Department of Government to establish order, by:

• Quickly signalling safe traffic routes
• Assisting in the removal of families
• Operating the necessary machinery for site cleanup
• Efficiently distributing construction materials for the recovery and preservation of houses.

However, we realized there was a need to create a crisis committee with the proper attributions and hierarchy, and to set up a group of volunteers duly registered and trained for each function to be performed.

Rapid response, but logistical challenges

During the response phase, the city acted decisively in response to Civil Defense calls.

However, communication difficulties arose due to disrupted telephone signals, necessitating the use of radio transmitters. Operating machinery in areas inundated with water or impeded by landslides also presented significant challenges.

We were able to monitor, report and provide evidence of all incidents, as well as organize cleanup teams.

There is still a need to expand operational indicators and establish monitoring bulletins to keep the population routinely informed.

A major milestone on our journey to resilience

The floods in May 2024 showed us that Veranópolis still has some way to go on our path to resilience. We need to further develop our municipal management and organization capacities before, during, and after adverse events and natural threats.

But we can be proud of our achievements. As an MCR2030-certified resilient city truly committed to sustainable urbanization, Veranópolis stood out for its mitigation efforts during the disaster- largely because we had followed the MCR2023 guidelines for urban resilience.

About Making Cities Resilient 2030

Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) is a unique cross-stakeholder initiative for improving local resilience through advocacy, sharing knowledge and experiences, establishing mutually reinforcing city-to-city learning networks, injecting technical expertise, connecting multiple layers of government and building partnerships.

Through delivering a clear 3-stage roadmap to urban resilience, providing tools, access to knowledge and monitoring and reporting tools, MCR2030 support cities on their journey to reduce risk and build resilience.

Make your city resilient now!

Fabiane Parise is the Municipal Secretary of Social Development, Housing and Longevity and Veranópolis' Civil Defense Coordinator. He has a degree in Hospital Administration, with a specialization in Health Auditing and Public Health Management.