Brazil, the largest and most populous country in South America was hit by flash floods and mudslides. The worst affected areas are the mountainous towns of Nova Friburgo, Persepoles and Teresopolis. The number of deaths caused by the flooding in Brazil as reported by different news organization was more than 400 and some fears that it could reach to 500 casualties as the search and rescue operations are still on-going.
Flooding in Brazil was caused by the heaviest rainfall ever experienced by this former Portuguese colony for the past 44 years. The towns hit by mudslides for instances received 10 inches of rain in less than twenty-four hours. Nova Friburgo even received 15 inches of rain including 11 inches overnight on Tuesday, nearly twice to the average of one month rain for the past 30 years.
President Delma Roussef the newly elected President of Brazil who (–foul word(s) removed–)umed office on January 1 have promised to use the full force of government to immediately provide the necessary resources needed for the recovery of the affected areas. The government of Brazil pledged $418 million in relief (–foul word(s) removed–)istance and to provide financial aids to the families of the victims affected by the flooding in Brazil.
The death toll in Brazil’s floods that continues to rise was caused by decades of poor government planning that allows poor people to build houses in unsafe locations. Brazil is home to vast slums and precarious housing. Adequate planning and management is necessary to minimize if not avoid the impact of higher deaths when natural calamities such as flooding occurs.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHQL3XVejU[/youtube]
