Alert: Floods in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Attachments
Geneva, 13 April 2012
Brief description of the emergency and impact
On the evening of Friday, 06 April, heavy rains hit the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro. This is the same area affected by landslides and floods the last year. The highest rainfall was recorded in the city of Teresopolis. The soil water saturation caused landslides in several neighborhoods of the city, flooding urban and rural areas. The Local Civil Defense reports 5 people died, 315 were injured, and 994 families have lost their houses. In this municipality the early warning system failed, contributing to the level of damages to the population.
Why is an ACT response needed
This community has losing their livelihoods for second time in 15 months. Their previous experience with the official entities is that aid came very slow and gave priority to the main infrastructure and not to the needs of the families. The rural area in the Vargem Grande locality is the most affected and less attended in both events, becoming in the most vulnerable population in these disasters.