Scores killed in Brazil flooding

[Derechos]

Floods and landslides have devastated towns in a mountainous area near Rio de Janeiro, killing dozens of people and bringing the death toll from days of heavy rain in southern Brazil to at least 127.

At least 89 people were killed in Teresopolis, about 100km north of Rio, town officials said, after hillsides and riverbanks buckled under the equivalent of a month's rainfall in 24 hours.

At least 25 people were killed in two other towns in the region as the downpour sent water and mud surging through communities.

On Tuesday, rains sweeping through Sao Paulo state killed 13 people and snarled transport in the country's financial capital.

The overall death toll is expected to rise, with about 50 people believed missing just in Teresopolis, Jorge Mario, the city's mayor, told Globo television.

"Rescue teams are still arriving in the areas that have been worst affected," he said, adding that about 1,000 people had been left homeless.

"It's the biggest catastrophe in the history of the town."

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2011/01/201111220623348908.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. K & R.

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Downwinder]

2. Watching the Australia flooding and missing the Brazil floods.

It is either too little water or too much.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Australia and Brazil's "biblical" disasters: Catastrophic floods wreak havoc in southern hemisphere

Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 15:30 ET
Australia and Brazil's "biblical" disasters: Catastrophic floods wreak havoc in southern hemisphere
Catastrophic floods wreak havoc in southern hemisphere -- watch footage of the destruction

http://www.salon.com/news/floods/index.html?story=/news/feature/2011/01/13/australian_flood_damage

[Judi Lynn]

3. Brazil flood deaths rise to 400; rescuers struggle

Brazil flood deaths rise to 400; rescuers struggle
By Sergio Queiroz, Reuters January 13, 2011 5:09 PM

TERESOPOLIS, Brazil - Rescue workers dug desperately for survivors on Thursday and struggled to reach areas cut off by raging floods and landslides that have killed at least 400 people in one of Brazil's deadliest natural disasters in decades.

Torrents of mud and water set off by heavy rains left a trail of destruction through the mountainous Serrana region near the city of Rio de Janeiro, toppling houses, buckling roads and burying entire families as they slept.

"It's like an earthquake struck some areas," said Jorge Mario, the mayor of the Teresopolis, where at least 175 people were killed in the flooding.

"There are three or four neighborhoods that were totally destroyed in rural areas. There are hardly any houses standing there and all the roads and bridges are destroyed."

The mudslides swept away the homes of rich and poor alike in and around Teresopolis and other towns, likely causing billions of dollars in damage. But the brunt of the disaster was borne by poorer rural residents in houses built in risky areas without formal planning permission.

More:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Brazil+flood+deaths+rise+rescuers+struggle/4097204/story.html

[Judi Lynn]

5. Brazil flooding kills over 500

Last Updated: Friday, January 14, 2011, 06:39
Brazil flooding kills over 500

Rescue workers in Brazil braced for more rain today as they struggled to reach areas cut off by massive floods and landslides that look certain to have killed more than 500 people.

In one of the country's worst natural disasters, rivers of mud tore through towns in the mountainous Serrana region outside Rio de Janeiro, levelling houses, throwing cars atop buildings and stranding thousands of residents.

The death toll was 495 people, according to official tallies late yesterday, but rescuers had yet to reach some of the worst-hit parts of Teresopolis, including one neighbourhood where around 150 houses were believed to have been destroyed. More than 13,500 people have been left homeless.

The flooding likely caused billions of dollars in damage and has presented President Dilma Rousseff with her first crisis only two weeks after she took office. Beyond the loss of life and property, the damage from the rains could further boost food prices in parts of southeastern Brazil, a major concern for the government.

More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0114/breaking4.html

[Judi Lynn]

6. Brazil death toll expected to top 1000

Brazil flood toll climbs to 610AAP
January 16, 2011, 10:54 am

Brazil declared three days of national mourning for at least 610 people killed near Rio de Janeiro this week in the country's worst flood disaster on record.

Emergency workers in the disaster zone, in the Serrana region just north of Rio, were overwhelmed by the body count. Refrigerator trucks had to be brought in to store corpses.

Workers transporting bodies said they feared the overall death toll from the floods and mudslides could top 1000 as rescuers reached outlying hamlets.

Advertisement: Story continues below An estimated 14,000 people were assisted by rescue workers or lost their homes in the Serrana area towns hardest hit about 100 kilometres from coastal Rio, civil defense figures showed.

More:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/8657916/brazil-flood-toll-climbs-to-610/

[dipsydoodle]

7. Brazil floods: Army deployed in Rio de Janeiro state

Brazilian soldiers have arrived in Teresopolis, one of the towns worst affected by deadly mudslides in the state of Rio de Janeiro, to assist with the rescue efforts.

Officials say at least 600 people are known to have died in the floods.

In the town of Nova Friburgo, officials are burying unidentified bodies because of a lack of mortuary space.

State governor Sergio Cabral has declared seven days of mourning for the victims of the disaster.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12200299

Includes video.

[rabs]

8. "Leao" = "Lion"

A dog, "Leao", sits for a second consecutive day, next to the grave of her owner, Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who died in the week's catastrophic landslides in Brazil, at the cemetery in Teresopolis, near Rio de Janiero, on Saturday. Brazilians Saturday braced for more rain, fearing further landslides after walls of muddy water tore through towns and claimed some 550 lives in the country's worst flood disaster on record.
VANDERLEI ALMEIDA | AFP/ Getty Images

-----------------

Death toll as of Saturday was over 600. For those who have not been to Teresopolis and Novo Friburgo, they are popular tourist destinations from Rio de Janeiro. To Brazilians, the region is mountainous -- as far as mountains go in Brazil.

Odd that Dilma is greeted with a natural disaster, as was Pinera in Chile with the 8.8 megaquake.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Heartbreaking. Hope some kind person will take this loyal friend home.

The deceased surely was loved.

That disaster coincidence is very strange, isn't it?

I read because of the flood, scorpions and snakes are swarming through the area, as well. That's not going to help.