This paper addresses risks management of environmental disasters from the standpoint of people in vulnerable situations. It is based on the initial phase of research on Life in risk areas conducted with financial support from CNPq. Data was gathered from multiple sources: activities of a local organization (Sociedade Santos Mártires); informal conversations with community residents and leaders in the region; legislative history of Brazilian civil defense; newspaper articles on disasters in the region and extensive bibliographic research. Based on social of critical analysis of risk theories, the objective was to understand the processes of how people deal with risk. Three themes are addressed: description of the territory focusing on the concept of social and environmental vulnerability; the complex network of actors that constitute risk in this territory; local risk management with a focus on everyday life in the community. The preliminary results suggest that in order to understand risk management in situations of vulnerability it is necessary to take into account the heterogeneous network of actors that constitute risk in the territory as well as the multiple dimensions of risk hierarchies as perceived by local inhabitants.