perry
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Highly unusual weather events continue worldwide . What the hell is going on!!
After the tragedy of the Queensland floods in Australia this seems to be overshadowed by the unprecedented rains and mudslides that have destroyed the beautiful town of Teresópolis and surrounding villages. The death toll is expected to be over 1000 people
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/13/brazil-landslides-death-toll-rises
Several mountain towns near Rio de Janeiro have been devastated as water and mud swept through the region Link to this video
Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, is due to visit a string of mountain towns devastated by floods and landslides today, as the death toll from the disaster reached at least 361.
Heavy rains on Tuesday night triggered some of the deadliest landslides in Brazilian history, sending mud tearing through three towns and burying entire families alive as they slept.
In Teresópolis, a small town about 60 miles from Rio de Janeiro, 146 deaths have already been confirmed, but local authorities expect that figure to rise further as recovery operations continue.
In the neighbouring town of Nova Friburgo, at least 155 bodies have so far been recovered.
This morning, one Brazilian TV network claimed that more than 419 people had died in Rio state and suggested that as many as 1,000 people could still be missing.
"This family no longer exists," read the headline of one Rio tabloid, alongside the photo of a prominent fashion designer and former Newsweek employee who was buried alive alongside eight relatives.
"It's a terrible scene," said local judge Jose Ricardo Ferreira de Aguiar as he pulled back a black tarpaulin and stepped into Teresopolis' improvised mortuary – the garage of the town's police station.
On the concrete floor before him lay 100 bodies, among them newly born babies, toddlers, elderly women and teenagers. Caked in brown mud and draped with pieces of soggy cardboard, the bodies piled up on the ground in a ghoulish confusion of arms and legs.
In groups of four, relatives were led into the morgue to identify their loved ones, splayed out under pieces of cardboard, sheets and muddy duvets. Those that had already been identified had tatty paper ID tags tied on to their toes.
"There's no chance of even making this human," Aguiar said. "We've just never seen anything like it here."
Mario Sergio Macario, 22, a student who has been given the job of guarding the morgue's entrance, said several colleagues from his tourism course were missing.
"The station is chaos. It's a public calamity. I've never seen anything like it," he said.
About 1,000 people were left homeless as the waters smashed through the town, destroying homes, powerlines and roads. The mayor of Teresópolis, Jorge Mario Sedlacek, decreed a state of emergency, calling the calamity "the worst to hit the town". About 800 search-and-rescue workers from the state's civil defence department and firefighters dug for survivors.
Marquinho Maia, a local press officer who was helping out at the morgue, said last night: "We pulled at least 16 bodies out this morning. Kids, old people. All dead. It's horrible. The city has never had so many fatalities.
"I've lost several friends. One of my friends still hasn't found his mum or his wife. Some areas have been completely destroyed."
Speaking after a helicopter flight over Teresópolis, Rio's environment secretary, Carlos Minc, described the mudslides as the worst catastrophe in the region's history.
"I believe the death toll is much higher than has been so far announced," he said. "Many people died in their sleep. The mountainsides are coming down. The areas are very unstable."
Fernanda Carvalho, a 27-year-old maid from the region, told the G1 news website that the disaster had drawn no distinction between rich and poor. "The rich man's house, the poor man's house. Everything was destroyed," she said.
Helicopter images showed at least two stranded locals desperately waving white shirts in a bid to be rescued. Nearby, a thick brown scar had been ripped through one residential area on the town's outskirts, uprooting trees and demolishing everything in its path.
Two other tourist destinations in the same region, Petrópolis and Nova Friburgo, were also badly affected with 25 deaths reported there.
In Nova Friburgo, where at least 97 died after a month's worth of rain fell in 24 hours, four firemen were reported to have been buried alive as they attempted to reach victims..
"There are so many disappeared and so many that will probably never be found," said Angela Marina de Carvalho Silva, who believes she may have lost 15 relatives to the flood, including five nieces and nephews.
"There was nothing we could do. It was hell," she said in a telephone interview.
Carvalho Silva took refuge in a neighbour's house on high ground with her husband and daughter, and watched the torrential rain carry away cars, tree branches and animals and tear apart the homes of friends and family.
"It's over. There's nothing. It's over. There's nothing. The water came down and swept everything away," said her husband, Sidney Silva.
After the tragedy of the Queensland floods in Australia this seems to be overshadowed by the unprecedented rains and mudslides that have destroyed the beautiful town of Teresópolis and surrounding villages. The death toll is expected to be over 1000 people
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/13/brazil-landslides-death-toll-rises
Several mountain towns near Rio de Janeiro have been devastated as water and mud swept through the region Link to this video
Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, is due to visit a string of mountain towns devastated by floods and landslides today, as the death toll from the disaster reached at least 361.
Heavy rains on Tuesday night triggered some of the deadliest landslides in Brazilian history, sending mud tearing through three towns and burying entire families alive as they slept.
In Teresópolis, a small town about 60 miles from Rio de Janeiro, 146 deaths have already been confirmed, but local authorities expect that figure to rise further as recovery operations continue.
In the neighbouring town of Nova Friburgo, at least 155 bodies have so far been recovered.
This morning, one Brazilian TV network claimed that more than 419 people had died in Rio state and suggested that as many as 1,000 people could still be missing.
"This family no longer exists," read the headline of one Rio tabloid, alongside the photo of a prominent fashion designer and former Newsweek employee who was buried alive alongside eight relatives.
"It's a terrible scene," said local judge Jose Ricardo Ferreira de Aguiar as he pulled back a black tarpaulin and stepped into Teresopolis' improvised mortuary – the garage of the town's police station.
On the concrete floor before him lay 100 bodies, among them newly born babies, toddlers, elderly women and teenagers. Caked in brown mud and draped with pieces of soggy cardboard, the bodies piled up on the ground in a ghoulish confusion of arms and legs.
In groups of four, relatives were led into the morgue to identify their loved ones, splayed out under pieces of cardboard, sheets and muddy duvets. Those that had already been identified had tatty paper ID tags tied on to their toes.
"There's no chance of even making this human," Aguiar said. "We've just never seen anything like it here."
Mario Sergio Macario, 22, a student who has been given the job of guarding the morgue's entrance, said several colleagues from his tourism course were missing.
"The station is chaos. It's a public calamity. I've never seen anything like it," he said.
About 1,000 people were left homeless as the waters smashed through the town, destroying homes, powerlines and roads. The mayor of Teresópolis, Jorge Mario Sedlacek, decreed a state of emergency, calling the calamity "the worst to hit the town". About 800 search-and-rescue workers from the state's civil defence department and firefighters dug for survivors.
Marquinho Maia, a local press officer who was helping out at the morgue, said last night: "We pulled at least 16 bodies out this morning. Kids, old people. All dead. It's horrible. The city has never had so many fatalities.
"I've lost several friends. One of my friends still hasn't found his mum or his wife. Some areas have been completely destroyed."
Speaking after a helicopter flight over Teresópolis, Rio's environment secretary, Carlos Minc, described the mudslides as the worst catastrophe in the region's history.
"I believe the death toll is much higher than has been so far announced," he said. "Many people died in their sleep. The mountainsides are coming down. The areas are very unstable."
Fernanda Carvalho, a 27-year-old maid from the region, told the G1 news website that the disaster had drawn no distinction between rich and poor. "The rich man's house, the poor man's house. Everything was destroyed," she said.
Helicopter images showed at least two stranded locals desperately waving white shirts in a bid to be rescued. Nearby, a thick brown scar had been ripped through one residential area on the town's outskirts, uprooting trees and demolishing everything in its path.
Two other tourist destinations in the same region, Petrópolis and Nova Friburgo, were also badly affected with 25 deaths reported there.
In Nova Friburgo, where at least 97 died after a month's worth of rain fell in 24 hours, four firemen were reported to have been buried alive as they attempted to reach victims..
"There are so many disappeared and so many that will probably never be found," said Angela Marina de Carvalho Silva, who believes she may have lost 15 relatives to the flood, including five nieces and nephews.
"There was nothing we could do. It was hell," she said in a telephone interview.
Carvalho Silva took refuge in a neighbour's house on high ground with her husband and daughter, and watched the torrential rain carry away cars, tree branches and animals and tear apart the homes of friends and family.
"It's over. There's nothing. It's over. There's nothing. The water came down and swept everything away," said her husband, Sidney Silva.
