Santos intensifies monitoring and prevention of landslides due to waterlogged soil

With the soil soaked, the teams began to closely monitor areas considered at risk to identify possible changes in the slopes and prevent occurrences, especially landslides. This week alone, more than 10 inspections were carried out at these locations.

The accumulated volume had already placed the Civil Defense at the operational level of Attention to the risk of landslides. On September 14, when the accumulated amount reached 401 mm, the month had already become the wettest in the city's historical series.

The teams assess the conditions of the terrain and possible signs of changes to the slopes and houses. Monitoring also considers rainfall rates and meteorological conditions recorded by rain gauges, meteorological stations, tide gauges and buoys.

Vulnerable areas are monitored by the Municipal Risk Reduction Plan (PMRR), which gathers information on places susceptible to landslides and guides measures such as inspections, issuing alerts and providing guidance to residents.

Since 2020, Santos reported having intensified containment and risk reduction works on the hills, with drainage systems, retaining walls, waterproofing slopes and removing or fixing rock blocks.

According to the city hall, families who lived in risk areas were also resettled in the Santos R housing complex.

The municipal administration also stated that it had expanded the alert system. In addition to sending SMS to people registered with Civil Defense, the city hall reported that it started using Cell Broadcast, which sends messages directly to cell phones located in risk areas, without the need for registration.

The Civil Defense Preventive Plan (PPDC), which establishes measures to anticipate actions in the face of the risk of landslides, will begin on November 1st and will continue until April 30th.

According to the city hall, the anticipation is related to the predicted impacts of El Niño. The administration also created a technical group with different departments to define complementary prevention actions.