>From what I've read it appears that mudslides are almost always the result of deforestation. Remove the forest, and the hillside eventually comes loose.
I don't know if that's the case here -- you'd need to look into the history of the area (which I have not done). The slides may come many years after deforestation, of course, since they result from exceptional soaking rains on the region that has been deforested. On 04/08/2010 12:28 PM, MJ wrote: > On 08-Apr-10 11:46, Jed Rothwell wrote: >> My daughter just got back from Rio de Janeiro where she was visiting >> schools and slums with a do-gooder Brazilian friend. This is what I >> call an Eleanor Roosevelt style vacation. Anyway, the day after she >> left the city was hit with the worst flooding in its history, which is >> widely ascribed to global warming. At least, the Brazilians think that >> is the cause. >> >> This has not been widely reported in the U.S. news. >> >> Her friend sent her the following account an hour ago: >> >> >> The rain we had this week was the heaviest we ever had here, and the >> consequences of it were indeed worse than we could have ever conceived. >> >> It affected the whole city, leaving no neighborhood free from the >> damages. >> >> I couldn't leave my apartment for over 24 hours, for as you know, my >> street is very high and you can only access it from that avenue with >> the waterway. >> >> So as you may imagine, both ends of my street turned into massive >> waterfalls and that waterway overflew. >> >> I was completely isolated, but very fortunately for me, safe. so were >> all of the girls you met. All we had to deal with was the >> inconvenience of not being able to leave our homes. >> >> The streets were completely full of water, that went as high as >> people's knees, so the transportation system in Rio collapsed. Nobody >> was able to work that day , and those who were brave enough to try had >> to go home all soaked and frustrated. The lagoon was also overflown >> until yesterday, and many roads and tunnels have been blocked ever since. >> >> Luckly, I think all of my friends were somehow safe, as well as my >> family. One other risk of being out in the streets had to do with >> opportunist robbers, that would take advantage of stuck cars, for >> instance. >> >> The biggest problems happended, of course, in the poorest areas. The >> slums (or as we call them, the "favelas") are usually uphill and since >> the huts are irregular constructions, as the earth slid it brought >> them all down with it. So far the official number of deads is around >> 138 and growing by the hour. >> >> It was a catastrophe like no other we have ever seen here, but i guess >> thats only nature's response to men and the destruction we've been >> causing for so long now. >> >> - Jed >> >> > > It just got worse this night. > > > http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-08/mudslide-may-have-buried-200-people-in-rio-de-janeiro-state.html > > > Mark Jordan from southern Brasil. >
