Flood impact on income inequality in the Itapocu River basin, Brazil

Abstract

Disasters worldwide tend to affect the poorest more severely and increase inequality. Brazil is one of the countries with high income-inequality rates and has unplanned urbanization issues and an extensive disaster risk profile with little knowledge on how those disasters affect people's welfare. Thus, disasters often hit the poorest hardest, increasing the country's income inequality and poverty rates. This study proposes a method to assess the impact of floods on households spatially based on their income levels by conducting flood analysis and income analysis. The method is applied to the Itapocu River basin (IRB) located in Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The flood is assessed by conducting rainfall analysis and hydrological simulation and generating flood inundation maps. The income is evaluated using downloaded 2010 census data and a dasymetric approach. Flood and income information is combined to analyze flood-impacted households by income level and flood return period. The results confirm the initial assumption that flood events in the IRB are more likely to affect the lowest-income households rather than the highest-income levels, thus, increasing the income inequality.

The wider the gap between rich and poor the higher the flood mortality

“…Previous ex post studies have focused primarily on the effects of disasters on GDP 15 . However, case studies also suggest that disasters can increase economic inequality, such as in Germany 33 and Brazil 34 . Our study focuses on the association between ex ante national levels of income inequality and disaster outcomes.…”

An Integrated Artificial Intelligence of Things Environment for River Flood Prevention

“…Other socioeconomic infrastructures remain under direct flood threat, including 27 health and education facilities. In Brazil, Silva Araújo et al [ 6 ] assessed the correlation between income inequality and the vulnerability to flooding risks in the Itapocu river basin area. Their study showed that low-income households tend be positioned in riskier areas, thus are more susceptible, than their higher income counterparts, to having their homes and farms destroyed by floods.…”