Conventional emergency processes insufficient for floodable ports: the Porto Alegre, (Brazil) case

Resumo

The port of Porto Alegre, located in the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, has faced intense flooding recently as a consequence of climate change. Based on the water level record from these latest events (including the May 2024 floodings that yielded water levels over two meters above the wharf height - 515 cm), we propose the concept of floodable port for Porto Alegre: given its geographical setting, the port is a flood-vulnerable important regional infrastructure and logistics player that must be adapted in order to withstand increasingly frequent and intense rainfall episodes, and later return to operational capacity. Having analyzed the current risk and emergency normative documents implemented for the port of Porto Alegre and the legal requirements for the production of internal emergency plans, we concluded that such risk and emergency norms are insufficient to manage a floodable port, based on the recorded impacts of recent flooding events, as they focus solely on operational risks and emergencies. Thus, it becomes necessary to implement a Climate Emergency Plan for the Port, aiming to enforce responsive measures for predicted flooding scenarios, limiting the impacts that previously unconsidered natural hazards can cause to port infrastructure.