An uprooted ficus tree on Visconde de Albuquerque, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro was hit by three days of heavy rains and wind this week. Some 200 people lost their lives in the state, most in landslides. The landslides occurred in the mountainside favelas. Earth and rocks, already destabilized by illegal deforestation and unlicensed residential construction, were loosened by the vast amounts of rain and avalanched, burying residents in the debris. Another factor exacerbating street flooding was the high tide entering the canals and canalized rivers that drain the Lagoa and provide sea passage to both sewage and rain run-off and coinciding with the period of heaviest rain.
The tragedy highlights the need for both improvement to civic infrastructure and more importantly, for land reform laws that would make it possible for all of Rio’s residents to lease or purchase housing in the urbanized zones served by public utilities and construction safety codes.
