Week 16 Hazard Assessment
Throughout these weeks I have analyzed the different hazards that countries can be prone to and Venezuela is no exception. Though many of my weeks yielded little evidence of a major threat to Venezuela, I did come across a few hazards that should be of concern in Venezuela. There are many natural hazards in Venezuela but one stood out among the data and research: mudslides and floods. A very infamous example in Venezuela is Vargas, 1999. Britannica reports that the casualties from this mudslide were somewhere between 10,000 to 30,000 people. This natural catastrophe also cost the country 2 million dollars in damage (Relief Web). Britannica goes on to explain that the mudslides were a result of torrential rains battering the mountainous regions of Venezuela. All of the inundated soil and rocks cascaded down, destroying 60 miles of coastline, with Vargas not being the only damaged area. This is a very extreme case of this hazard but it really conveys the potential dangers facing Venezuela in the future.
There are some lesser known but common events in Venezuela as well. The Vargas Tragedy is the biggest catastrophe in this category of hazards, but there were events I recorded in my blogs in forums of other water related natural hazards. Tachira State and Merida State had a flood of 49 mm in 2 hours. It may not seem like a large amount of water but it actually left 400 families isolated in their homes. Another flash flood in Tachira State A Venezuelan governmental report in 2022 recorded 93 deaths and 14,000 damaged homes just in the fall of last year. Then one of my other blog reports included an NPR article on a mass wasting event in Las Tejerias that left 34 dead and 1,000 homes damaged. After seeing a trend in water related hazards I realized that Venezuela should prioritize protecting themselves from these different events.
I propose many different strategies for mitigation. The first of these strategies would be to have an official government website describing the steps one should take before, during, and after a flood. This would be similar to the NOAA steps we discussed earlier this semester but it would pertain more to the region. It would have phone numbers for different zip codes to contact after floods and mudslides. It would have a link to become a member of a newsletter for updates on these hazards and warnings. One of my other strategies would be to have an insurance company set out to provide the people with the proper protection on their cars, houses and health. There is also the strategies that focus on preventing the people from having to use these. Some of these solutions would be the reinforcement of buildings, flood walls, levees and other national strategies of prevention. The NCSL also mentions the relocation of buildings in which I would label as a worst case scenario. I would want to protect these buildings first because the finances to move buildings would be costlier than implementing structural reinforcements. The NCSL also mentions a very effective way of mitigating flood hazards. Flood water diversion would be very effective in controlling the direction of flood water and depositing the water somewhere else. Some areas I would consider relocation for would be areas around Vargas that are at the highest risk of being destroyed in another mudslide. To prevent a mudslide though, I would build a dam-like structure surrounding the mountainous region next to Vargas so that if one does occur the momentum of the flowing debris would be slowed causing less damage to the populated areas.
Some of the areas I would focus my resources would be Venezuela's coastline, the area surrounding Maracaibo Lake and the other states I mentioned earlier like Tachira State or Las Tejerias. Vargas is the Venezuelan coastline and the capital, Caracas, is located very very close to the coastline as well. The areas most at risk for these hazards are these areas located by massive bodies of water. Tachira and Merida State are located relatively close to Maracaibo Lake. Flash floods can affect many areas throughout Venezuela but I saw a trend that many of the affected places where close to these bodies of water. Coastlines also have a very dense population so protecting these areas also will be very beneficial to the country. These areas are also more prone to other hazards like hurricanes and coastal erosion which every country will struggle with as well.
If I was living in Venezuela I would build my house by the Guri Resevoir, most likely in Guyana city next to the Orinoco delta. Throughout my weeks of research on this country, I never came across any hazards really happening in this area. I would be next to a controlled body of water which has a lot of advantages. The area also has a very rich and diverse ecosystem. There are disadvantages of living close to water which would be floods but since it is a delta next to a reservoir, there should not be too much of a buildup of water. The reservoir would also be protected by a dam and it would be an area with a rich water supply as well. I would get all of the benefits of living next to the water with very little of the hazards I discussed previously.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Venezuela-mud-slides-of-1999
https://www.ncsl.org/environment-and-natural-resources/flood-mitigation#:~:text=Flood%20mitigation%20approaches%20fall%20into,%2C%20levees%2C%20and%20evacuation%20routes.
https://floodlist.com/?s=Venezuela&submit=
https://reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarian-republic/venezuela-one-worst-natural-disasters-century-south-america
https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/harris-county-flood-task-force-equitable-resilience
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