In the News: Brazil

Source: Vladimir Platonow/ABr

 Last year Brazil suffered from severe flooding and landslides, leading to what was described by many to be the 'worst natural disaster ever to befall Brazil.' Currently Brazil is back in rainy season and is again suffering from intense rain, flooding and landslides. Last week the intense rains caused a dam burst, leading to the evacuation of several thousand residents who faced the prospect of severe flooding as a result. Dam failure is always a very serious problem communities face, and the video shown within the above link hightlights why, with huge volumes of water being released.

One of the reasons the rainy season causes significant trouble in Brazil is beacuse of the poverty of many people. Poverty drives many people to inhabit the unsafe, unstable slopes surrounding cities such as Rio de Janeiro. Whilst many people know that the ground they live on is potentially lethal, they have little choice or choose to accept the risk in order to be closer to the main city, bringing food and a potential livelihood. 

Over the past year Brazil has invested significantly in measures to prepare for this year's rainy season and reduce the impacts of the rainy season - including better monitoring, forecasting and emergency evacuation procedures. The effectiveness of these measures will be evident over the coming weeks and months. In order to effectively reduce disaster risk in this area the authorities need to combine effective science and engineering with sustainable social development, community participatory approaches and effective governance and town emergency planning. Whilst it is not an easy task, it is encouraging to see how Brazil has invested in these areas over the past year - an investment which could save many lives in future rainy seasons.

Update: Since writing this post mudslides have occurred, killing 12 people (to date) - more information can be found on the BBC Website,

Newswatch - July 2011

Newswatch is a regular round up of some key stories relating to the geosciences in international development. In the past Newswatch has examined stories relating to geohazards, and in particular landslides. This month there have been a number of geoscience-related things in the news that are well worth a mention:

Mount Lokun (Source: Wiki)

Volcanic Eruption Leads to Evacuation, Indonesia

Thousands of people have been evacuated on the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia. An evacuation zone has been established, affecting around 28,000 people, some of whom have begun to evacuate. There are reports of one fatality (a woman had a heart attack during the evacuation process) and forest fires as a result of the eruption. Indonesia has many active volcanoes, which have caused many fatalities and disruption when erupting in the past. Mount Merapi, for example, killed more than 350 people when it erupted last year. The Jakarta Globe has regular updates on the situation and The Guardian Natural Disasters page also has more details. 

Beginning of Monsoon Season, Bangladesh

July sees the beginning of the monsoon season in Bangladesh - in which there is routine flooding and displacement of communities. These striking images by NASA show the increase in water in the north of the country. Increased precipitation is likely to result in landslides as well. 

Latest News on Severe Drought, Horn of Africa

An article written in the past week suggests there have been significant problems in communication between scientists and decision makers following the drought in East Africa. Forecasters issued warnings about very poor rainy seasons, and yet the region has found itself in significant turmoil. It is also suggested that the international community as a whole failed to respond in the provision of funds so that humanitarian organisations could prepare and respond effectively. Meanwhile, there is still a significant crisis in the region and a shortfall of funds. The UK has pledged over £52million more, and is calling on the international community to do more to avoid a catastrophe in the region. The UK public have donated a fantastic £13million through the Disasters Emergency Committee. There is some indication that the drought is also affecting Tanzania more than reported too as they impose power rationing to conserve water in their hydro-electric schemes.

High Cost of Natural Hazards (January - June 2011)

Figures suggest that the first two quarters of 2011 have been the costliest, in terms of losses from natural hazards, on record. The huge economic cost of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has resulted in losses from the first two quarters of 2011 exceeding the total annual cost of the previous highest year, in 2005. The number of fatalities, however, is below the 2001-2010 average.