There is trend of increasing the frequency and severity of extreme climate events and related disasters. The objective of this paper is to analyze the health impacts due to the flood occurred in November 2008 in Santa Catarina (southern Brazil) and the underlying social processes behind the disaster. The method consisted in the recovery and analysis of information from different sources (health services, civil protection and the newspapers), for the municipalities affected by the disaster. The results demonstrate that the immediate effects are just one part of health effects that extend over the medium and long term, expressing the underlying social, environmental and institutional vulnerabilities and lack of resilience to disasters. In conclusion we point to the various vulnerabilities that must be addressed to reduce the impact of natural disasters, involving the development agendas, and climate vulnerability reduction.
Climatic extreme event; Natural disaster; Environmental health; Vulnerability
