Appropriate technologies to improve evacuation routes and vehicle access in case of emergency

Disaster risk analysis is the result of studying the hazards or threats and the conditions of exposure and vulnerability in local populations. In the case of floods and associated hazards, there are multiple alternatives to reduce these risk conditions, being structural measures (green or grey infrastructures) or non-structural (trainings, Early Warning Systems, among others). In this document, we detail an example of appropriate technology, which has relatively low costs thanks to the use of local materials and the participation of the community who is involved in the process of decision making, design and execution of works. This technology consist in improving vehicular access roads, to allow evacuation in case of danger and the arrival of vehicles such as ambulances or heavy machinery in case of damage to people or infrastructures. In this document, we explain the steps to consider when designing such a project, from risk and capacities´ assessment, to project design and prioritization, up to its implementation.