Responding to floods: disaster relief infrastructure in Piura, Peru

Located on the periphery of the city of Piura in Peru, a series of villages face increasing flooding related to El Niño phenomenon and climate change. This causes separation of families, the loss of their homes, crops, livelihoods, and worsens already poor living conditions and access to public services. Initiated as A story of floods, the project seeks to understand the impact of flooding through the testimonies of affected people. It considers their displacements, main actions related to the catastrophe, wishes and needs in order to propose a relief response that eases the post-disaster processes and improve their regular living conditions. The relief strategies include housing reinforcement to complement existing technical norms, a shading module in the agricultural fields and a communal emergency shelter. The latter provides protection during the emergency until evacuation can take place and serves as accommodation to facilitate reconstruction and rehabilitation tasks when returning to the villages. Furthermore, it offers public facilities for the community during non-emergency contexts. By incorporating local materials and vernacular construction techniques, the project includes local people and their knowledge for its development, construction and maintenance aspects, aiming to be adapted in similar contexts.