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By Eraldo Peres

The Associated Press

MACEIO, Brazil 鈥� A part of Maceio, the capital of Brazil鈥檚 northeastern Alagoas state, used to buzz with the sounds of cars, commerce and children playing. It went silent as residents evacuated en masse, eager to escape the looming destruction of their homes, which were cracking and crumbling.

Beneath their floors, the subsurface was riddled with dozens of cavities. It was the legacy of four decades of rock salt mining in five urban neighborhoods. That caused the soil above to settle and structures atop it to start coming apart. Since 2020, the communities have hollowed out as tens of thousands of residents accepted payouts from petrochemical company Braskem to relocate.

Few holdouts remain, several of whom told The Associated Press they imagine the ground under their feet resembling Swiss cheese. Nevertheless, Paulo Sergio Doe, 51, said he will never leave his home in the Pinheiro neighborhood where he grew up.

鈥淭he company can鈥檛 impose what it wants overnight to do away with the lives and histories of so many families,鈥� he said in an interview outside his home.

Braskem is one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the Americas. It鈥檚 owned primarily by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and construction giant Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht.

The company isn鈥檛 forcibly evicting anyone, though those still here said it feels that way. Braskem reached an agreement with prosecutors and public defenders to compensate families so they could uproot and start over elsewhere. By Braskem鈥檚 count, 97.4 percent of affected homes 鈥� more than 14,000 鈥� are now vacant, the company said in its 2021 earnings call last week.

The 55,000 evacuees left behind not just neighbors and friends, but also jobs; 4,500 mostly small- and medium-size businesses that sustained 30,000 people were shuttered, according to a study the Federal University of Alagoas published last year. Among those businesses were local supermarkets and a ballet school that operated for 38 years, according to Adriana Capretz, a member of the university鈥檚 work group monitoring the neighborhoods.

The exodus is evident from above; departing residents salvaged everything they could sell for extra cash, including their roof tiles. Their removal allows unimpeded views inside the once-occupied spaces.

The amount Braskem offered wasn鈥檛 enough for Natal铆cia Gon莽alves. The retired teacher, 77, also said she felt too old to start fresh, so she watched as nearly everyone else in Pinheiro left. Now she lives inside a makeshift fortress behind boards and plants intended to deter would-be burglars. Braskem security guards do rounds on motorcycles, briefly interrupting the evenings鈥� eerie silence.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e already done everything to force me to go, but I have my rights,鈥� she said from behind her home鈥檚 fortified exterior. 鈥淚鈥檓 afraid, especially at night when no one is around. The light is dim; there鈥檚 hardly any. I protect myself with my plants, but I鈥檓 alone, with God.鈥�

Braskem has so far disbursed about 40 percent of the more than 5 billion reais (about $1 billion) it has set aside for relocation, compensation of individuals including residents and local employees, and the transfer of facilities like schools and hospitals, the company said in its earnings call. It is directing 6 billion additional reais for closure and monitorship of the salt mines, as well as social, environmental and urbanistic measures.

Wrapping up the call, Braskem鈥檚 CEO, Roberto Lopes Pontes Sim玫es, highlighted the company鈥檚 year. That included 鈥渁ll the advance we had in Maceio鈥� in having relocated nearly everyone from the neighborhoods.

No house has been swallowed by the earth, nor has any person been killed. Capretz, a professor in the university鈥檚 architecture and urbanism school, said that doesn鈥檛 mean heartache was avoided.

鈥淭he tragedy is happening, not just regarding the geological phenomena but, primarily, because there are cases of people who committed suicide, many who became sick with depression, lost their social lives, family ties, friends and neighbors,鈥� Capretz said as she walked through the Bebedouro neighborhood. 鈥淣one of that is being considered by Braskem.鈥�

The company鈥檚 press office said in a lengthy response to AP questions that it provides free psychological consultations to any residents participating in the compensation and relocation program. Its creation was based on law and legal rulings in similar cases, Braskem stated, and added that compensation offers are always presented to individuals alongside their lawyer or a public defender.

But negotiations can be clouded by sentiment; the price of a house isn鈥檛 the same as the value of a home.

Quit茅ria Maria da Silva, 64, and her grandson recently waited for the rest of their family to come play dominos on a table they set up beneath their street鈥檚 only lamppost that鈥檚 still functional. Even as da Silva said she would move were Braskem to pay her requested amount, she expressed ambivalence:

鈥淚 always lived in my house and now, if I have to leave here, where will I go?鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: AP reporter David Biller contributed from Rio de Janeiro.