Death toll from torrential rains in northeast Brazil reaches 100

The death toll from flooding and landslides following torrential rains in
northeast Brazil has reached 100, the AFP news agency and Brazil’s Folha de S
Paulo newspaper have reported, citing local officials.

Mudslides have devastated entire impoverished communities outside the city of
Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state. Disaster management officials for the
state said on Tuesday that at least 14 people remain missing, AFP reported.

Bolsonaro cited similar recent disasters in the mountains above Rio de
Janeiro, in southern Bahia state and in Minas Gerais state. Flooding and heavy
rain killed hundreds and forced thousands out of their homes in these areas
during the past year.

“Unfortunately, these catastrophes happen in a continent-sized country,”
Bolsonaro said. “We’re all obviously sad. We express our sympathy to family
members. Our bigger objective is to comfort families and also, with material
means, attend to the population.”

Bolsonaro announced his government will allocate $210m (one billion Brazilian
reais) to assist the victims.

The number of municipalities that had declared an emergency situation in
Pernambuco rose to 24 on Tuesday, according to Folha de S Paulo. The natural
disaster has also forced nearly 6,200 people out of their homes, the newspaper
said.

Scientists have said climate change drives heavier rainfall, increasing
chances of flooding and landslides.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body
tasked with assessing the science related to climate change, has labelled
Recife as one of the most vulnerable metropolitan areas in the world.

“Low-lying coasts in several Latin American countries … and large cities
(e.g., Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Recife) are among the most vulnerable
to climate variability and extreme hydrometeorological events such as rain and
windstorms, and sub-tropical and tropical cyclones (i.e., hurricanes) and
their associated storm surges,” the IPCC said in a 2007 report (PDF).

In a report released earlier this year, the IPCC also warned that less
affluent urban areas with no capacity to adapt to climate change will face the
most risks.

“Globally, the most rapid growth in urban vulnerability and exposure has been
in cities and settlements where adaptive capacity is limited – especially in
unplanned and informal settlements in low- and middle-income nations and in
smaller and 9 medium-sized urban centres,” it said.

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