Indigenous people see house collapse on the banks of the Solimões river due to drought – 10/16/2023 – Environment

The wooden house where Adriana da Silva, 30, Maria Rosenilda, 24, and 13 other siblings grew up, on the banks of the Solimões River, is now a pile of posts mixed in the mud of a ravine.

The house had a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. It fell with everything inside — stove, refrigerator, television and the money that Manoel da Silva, 56, the owner of the property, saved from selling fish.

Everything collapsed on September 26th. The ravine began to move, and the realization of what was happening helped Manoel and six children who lived in the house — all children — to flee the place before a tragedy struck.

Between the sign of detachment from the earth and the collapse, less than ten minutes passed. Manoel and the children moved to the house just behind, that of one of the daughters. Three adults and nine children live in the same space.

Everyone there, on the middle Solimões River, near Tefé (AM), is desolate. There was never any sign that the land would fall, throughout the decades that the house existed, according to Manoel’s daughters. He wants to rebuild the property.

“I think he really has to build, but not where he fell. Here the ground is firm”, says Maria Rosenilda.

“We grew up in this house. She’s Dad’s age. Nothing had ever happened, not even noise”, laments Adriana, who lives in Tefé. The family is indigenous Ticuna and is part of the so-called Barreira de Cima.

What happened on the Solimões bank, as it happened, may have a direct association with the extreme drought in the region.

The drought, considered more severe than that of 2010 (which is seen as extreme), caused the disappearance of streams, the conversion of entire stretches of the Solimões into sand, the overheating of Lake Tefé, the death of dolphins, the isolation of communities and lack of access for these people to drinking water.

Added to this is the phenomenon of fallen lands, common during dry periods in the Amazon and which has been spreading to different parts of the Amazon.

According to the SGB (Brazilian Geological Survey), the phenomenon is associated with very low river levels. When there is a sudden variation in these levels, there is the possibility of large margin movements, with the collapse of ravines. In situations of extreme drought, the risks increase.

Part of a village in Beruri (AM), a city on the bank of the Purus river, ceased to exist after the collapse of a ravine. The tragedy is associated with the phenomenon of fallen lands.

More than 40 houses were affected by the fall of the ravine on the night of the 30th. 300 people lived in them. At least two people died in the incident.

In Itacoatiara (AM), part of a port on the Amazon River collapsed on the 11th, and the episode is also related to fallen land, according to authorities who monitor the measures necessary to guarantee logistics in the city. Containment works are being carried out by Dnit (National Department of Transport Infrastructure), according to the Civil Defense of Amazonas.

In the rural area of ​​Iranduba (AM), a city close to Manaus, part of a school was swept away when a ravine fell. And, in Manacapuru (AM), an embankment collapsed on top of a boat.

Civil Defense points out the existence of advanced erosion processes in several cities in the state, including at access points to ferries for vehicle crossings.

“The situation is critical throughout the state”, says Francisco Máximo, Secretary of Civil Defense of Amazonas. “We are experiencing a climate crisis, and not even the riverside residents expected such a critical situation.”

On the bank of the Solimões River, the Ticuna sisters try to assimilate that the house where they grew up no longer exists. The father was born on the same shore, according to them, in a house that existed before. “This house didn’t collapse, it ceased to exist because it really got old,” says Rosenilda.

The family lives from fishing and planting bananas and cassava. During droughts, an artesian well guarantees the water supply. When there is a shortage, they resort to a nearby lake.

The Solimões still has a lot of volume in this part of the region, compared to the stretches where it became desert.

“Nobody knows what will happen from now on. Will the drought always be like this now?”, asks Adriana. “My father hopes to build the house again.”