Inundações e a gestão de áreas de proteção permanentes (APPS) na cidade de Rio Branco, Acre - Brasil.

Abstract

The human occupation of areas along rivers is a fact that can be observed in several cities of the world. However, throughout human history, the same river that brings amenities to human socieyt, can also bring destruction in periods of floods. The city of Rio Branco, the capital of the state of Acre, developed on the banks of the Acre River, taking advantage of the its connection to the world, This disorganized urban expansion, however, occupied areas unsuitable for settlements. The flooding of the Acre River in 2015 was the worst in forty years in terms of socioeconomic impacts, reaching 60 neighborhoods and approximately 10 thousand families. Four districts stood out for being the most affected, having large areas covered by the waters, as well as a large number of people directly affected. This study quantifies with greater precision the areas affected by the flood, in particular, the Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), as well as the number of people affected by this event. With the results obtained by this study it was possible to create a methodology for real-time monitoring of the impacts of a flood during its occutence and it is presented in chapter II of this work. In order to do this, the knowledge of local characteristics, specifically with regard to the number of people residing in the region, type and use of buildings and area of flood extent are essential factors for the correct dimensioning of response actions, product presented in Chapter I of this research. In the four target neighborhoods of this research, approximately 30,000 people were directly affected, 100% of the APPs were covered by floodwaters. We verified that the municipality needs to control the occupancy of flood risk areas and APPs, as well as, the registry of existing buildings in these areas. Thus, we believe that the results achieved with this study can contribute to the strengthening of risk management and management of the APPs of the city of Rio Branco, as well as in cities that have similar situations.