Deadly Flooding in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Continues Into The Weekend

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has been in the news a lot lately. The city has been selected to serve as the host of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics and construction has been underway since then to prepare for the festivities. What seemed like a great opportunity for Brazil at first has now been hit with a myriad of problems in construction and has been plagued with accusations of human rights violations. Adding to these recent issues is persistent heavy rain over the area that has been falling since Tuesday. The rain has rarely stopped since then and a normal situation in one of Brazil's wet seasons has took an ugly turn that took the lives of three people in Rio today.

(Flooding occuring right outside the Maracana Stadium in Rio)

The rising water levels in parts of the city has toppled houses and has cancelled trains and flight schedules. The mayor of the city, Eduardo Paes, advised residents to stay indoors and not try to travel through the flood waters. Sadly, I am sure the people Rio and all over the country of Brazil are getting used to seeing flooding such as this. Just three days ago at least 11 people were killed in Brazil's drought-stricken Bahia state. Local officials were quoted as being concerned with the possible impacts that global warming is having on the increase in flooding in recent years. This all may have some correlation but I there is no denying that Brazil is inflicting much of this pain upon themselves. 

Illegal construction, deforestation, and unregulated housing has been blamed for the rise in the frequency and severity of floods in Brazil and in other parts of the world where environmental degradation is ongoing. The removal of soil and vegetation from the landscape is causing increases in major floods and landscapes in the region. There is no signs of stopping such behavior however. Especially not when the city of Rio takes on billions of dollars in construction costs to bring the world's greatest sporting events to the city. While they pour their tax money into giant stadiums, the flooding that killed at least 903 people in 2011 alone and caused over two billion Reais in damage will continue until somebody does something about it.

Sources:

http://www.disaster-report.com/2013/12/flooding-in-rio-de-janeiro-brazil-kills.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/11/rio-de-janeiro-paralysed-downpours-world-cup-olympics