Impact of Hurricane Catarina over the southern region of Santa Catarina State (Brazil): monitoring and post-disaster assessment

Abstract

The objectives of this work were to identify the main characteristics of the Hurricane Catarina; to survey and analyze the damages and losses; to elaborate a damage intensity map; and to classify the hurricane’s intensity. The monitoring was realized at Balneário Arroio do Silva. Both damage assessment and intensity map were carried out based on a field survey at 22 affected municipalities, covering more than 3,000 km of the landfall area, and was applied questionnaire to 161 persons. The intensity map was performed by interpolating 260 GPS-points that were classified according to the general damage scenario. Passo de Torres, Balneário Gaivota, and Balneário Arroio do Silva were the most affected municipalities. They are located along the coast, where a great number of edifications were damaged (53,728) and destroyed (2,194). These edifications were mainly non-engineering wood-framed and brick houses (not have beans and columns) with concrete-asbestos tile roofs, having a fragile structure with low wind resistance. As the hurricane displaced towards the interior its intensity diminished, showing a radial destruction pattern. According to the wind estimated “in loco” and the damage intensity observed at the landfall area, Catarina’s was classified as a class 2 hurricane, based on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Key words: Hurricane Catarina; monitoring; post-disaster assessment.