Articles | Volume 21, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-21-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-21-2021
Research article
 | 
07 Jan 2021
Research article |  | 07 Jan 2021

Modelling the Brumadinho tailings dam failure, the subsequent loss of life and how it could have been reduced

Darren Lumbroso, Mark Davison, Richard Body, and Gregor Petkovšek

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Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (15 Oct 2020) by Paolo Tarolli
AR by Darren Lumbroso on behalf of the Authors (19 Oct 2020)  Author's response   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (10 Nov 2020) by Paolo Tarolli
AR by Darren Lumbroso on behalf of the Authors (11 Nov 2020)  Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (13 Nov 2020) by Paolo Tarolli
AR by Darren Lumbroso on behalf of the Authors (23 Nov 2020)  Manuscript 
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Short summary
A tailings dam is an earth embankment used to store the waste from mines, known as tailings. In 2019, the Brumadinho tailings dam in Brazil failed, releasing a mudflow which killed ~ 300 people. This paper details the use of an agent-based model to estimate the risk to people downstream of this dam. The agent-based model represents each individual person. The modelling indicated that if a warning had been issued as the dam failed, the number of fatalities could have been reduced.
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