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As climates continue to change, semi-arid rainfall regimes are projected to become increasingly more extreme, with longer dry periods and fewer, but more intense, heavy rainfall events. This process of hydroclimatic intensification increases the risk associated with successive extreme climate hazards, such as drought and then heavy rainfall, in the same area. However, the development of effective adaptation strategies to drought, heavy rainfall, and flood hazards is hampered by the lack of integrated analyses that consider the interactions among these hazards and responses to them. To increase understanding of these interactions, this paper examines impacts of and adaptive actions taken in response to prolonged drought (2012–2018) and subsequent extreme rainfall and flooding (March and April 2023) in the semi-arid region of Ceará, Northeast Brazil. We find that policies and adaptive measures focus …