Official and unofficial data supporting disaster risk management in medium-sized cities

Abstract

The disaster database enables managers to support prevention, preparedness, and mitigation actions, especially in Latin American countries, where disaster risk data are scarce. This article surveys and analyses a database of disasters in a medium-sized municipality, using official (civil defense) and unofficial (documentary research) sources. The methodology was based on data collection between 1970 and 2021, being classified according to the Brazilian Disaster Codification (COBRADE) and subsequent spatialization of information. The results indicated that 71% of the hazard events were registered in the “natural group” (NG), mainly related to heavy rainfall, and 29% in the “technological group” (TG), mostly associated with urban fires. Based on spatial analysis, 20 locations (“hotspots”) with the largest occurrences were identified, representing approximately 64.30% of (NG) total records. The city's central zone was the location with the highest number of occurrences (133), followed by Jardim Kennedy (64), in the South zone, and Serra São Domingos (53), in the North. The methodology developed is an important tool to support urban planning and disaster risk management in medium-sized cities.