Brazil: Climate change, neglect contribute to deadly mudslides

Source(s): Al Jazeera Satellite Network

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Many high-risk areas are even more vulnerable due to deforestation or inadequate drainage, Guerra said. As time goes by, people forget disasters and return to devastated areas, building houses on unsafe ground.

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Between 2007 and 2010, Guerra and a team of civil engineers and geologists mapped risky areas in Petropolis and sent their findings to the city. The next January, heavy rain set off landslides that claimed nearly 1,000 lives, 71 of them in Petropolis. It was considered Brazil’s worst-ever natural disaster.

The city has recognised the problem. In 2017, authorities noted that 18 percent of the city – including about 20,000 households – was at high or very high risk. Yet another 7,000 would also need to be relocated, according to a plan devised by the municipality, which called for the construction of affordable housing units and a halt to new construction in at-risk areas.

Guerra, Valverde, non-governmental organisations and residents say little has been done to execute that vision. There is little available space in Petropolis for new, safe construction, and removing residents from existing homes is unpopular politically – there is often nowhere to relocate residents near their original homes.

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Hazards Landslide
Country and region Brazil
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