This article needs to be updated.(January 2016) |
Meteorological history | |
---|---|
Duration | April–May 2009 |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | 44 |
Damage | Estimates at £1 billion |
Areas affected | Northeastern Brazil |
The 2009 Brazilian floods and mudslides were a severe natural disaster principally affecting five northeastern states of Brazil. As a result of heavy rains,fourteen people were reported dead over a period of one month and at least 62,600 others had been left homeless as of 2 May 2009. Nineteen people were dead by 5 May 2009,with a significant increase in homeless people being reported,estimated at 186,000. [1] The death toll by 8 May was thirty-nine and 270,000 people were reported homeless. [2]
The state of Santa Catarina in the South of the country has also been damaged. A total of seven states have been affected across the country. [3] Maranhão was the worst affected state,with at least six deaths and at least 40,700 homeless people occupying shelters. [4]
The Amazon River Basin suffered its second-heaviest flood in one hundred years during this period. [5] These are already the worst floods Brazil has experienced in over twenty years. [6]
Reconstruction from the floods and mudslides are expected to take 3–5 years.
Heavy rain in Brazil began in early April 2009,affecting 40,000 people. [5] 13,000 people were immediately left homeless and there were two quick deaths in Maranhão's state capital,São Luís,both as a result of mudslides. [5] The homeless were half in shelters and half in the care of relatives. Thirteen of the state's municipalities had declared state of emergency. [5]
On 23 April,it was reported that the disaster had already killed three people,including a one-month-old child from Salvador,the capital of Bahia,who was suffocated by a mudslide. [7] Over 33,000 people had been made homeless at that stage;30,000 of these were in Maranhão and 3,400 were in the adjacent state of Bahia. [7]
At least 3,000 people lost their homes in Santa Catarina,whilst one died. [5] The governor of Amazonas,Eduardo Braga,initiated a state of emergency in every one of his state's sixty-two municipalities. [5] Fourteen people were reported dead within one month and at least 62,600 others were left homeless by 2 May 2009. [4]
Nineteen people were dead by 5 May 2009,as a sharp rise in homelessness occurred. [3] Homeless totals have been estimated at 186,000 individuals. [3] Images of citizens travelling around in boats and barely visible rooftops were broadcast on television. [3] Emergency shelters were said to be "packed" with homeless people. [3] At least six major highways were closed in Maranhão. [3] A railway used to transport iron ore and 1,300 people each day was also shut down. [1] The governor of the state of Piauí declared state of emergency in nineteen of the state's towns and cities,and requested help from the military in rescuing people from the floods. [6]
By this time,over 186,000 people were homeless. The death toll by 6 May was reported at twenty-nine. [8]
The death toll by 8 May was thirty-nine and 270,000 people were reported homeless. [2]
By 10 May, it was being reported that over 300,000 people were homeless and 44 had been killed. [9]
President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, inspected the damage by air and brought food to those displaced by the disaster. [3] He commented: "We need to look more seriously into the climate situation these days. Something is changing and we still have time to fix it." (i.e.: Mass De-Forestation?) [3] Brazil's Health Minister José Gomes Temporão has promised to deliver medical supplies to Maranhão. [3]
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