Disaster in Paradise

[amazondk]

The rains have been hitting the southeastern coast of Brazil especially hard this year. The the southern coastal area of Rio de Janeiro and northern São Paulo is one of the most beautiful tropical places on the planet. The mountains drop into the blue ocean from 3 to 4 thousand feet covered in the last remnants of the Atlantic Coast rain forest. For the most part the forest is quite well preserved and the area is dotted with beautiful small resorts with beautiful tropical architecture that blends into the surroudings. Unfortunately the very marraige of buildings and nature set the stage for a local disaster which has killed at least 60 people who were buried alive in mud since New Years arrived. One of the worst his was a small pousada, inn with 40 rooms where about 30 people were killed including the college age daughter of the owner. They had built their dream hotel in a beautiful location. Until nature came by and dumped a mountain of mud on them. The forest was intact, but that is no guarantee that the earth will not move. Undoubtedly it has many times before along the coast. Fallen boulders are common along the coastal highway. They are now looking at closing the Angra nuclear reactor down as a safety measure if the highway is closed and there is a nuclear emergency there would be no escape route.

Angra dos Reis were Ilha Grande and the Inn that was buried is located is about as beautiful a place one kind find on the planet. But, beauty is no immune to tradegy.

Here is some information. Mud slides in Brazil

As you can imagine this event is getting a lot of press here in Brazil. It is a sad story.

dk

[BS Man about Palms]

With the biennial to be down there this year, I have been reading the reports with interest. I hope it lets up.

[amazondk]

Bill,

I do not think that any of the recent events will have anything to do with the Rio Bienniel. For one the the city of Rio is for the most part in little danger of such events. And, two by the time the bienniel comes around the season should have moved out of the rainiest part of the year. This is usually January and February. This year has had a lot of moisture from Amazonia pumped into the southeast though. The current off the southeast coast is cold water and this interacts with humid warm air from my region. The main problem is that people have built in areas that I am sure suffered mud slides before many people were around. There are a lot of tragic stories being told unfortunately. It is hard to convey really how beautiful this area is. You have to know it to appreciate it.

dk

[BS Man about Palms]

Thanks for the clarification Don. I had finally figured out it wasn't where the Biennial was going to be, I just wasn't sure how far they were apart.

As for the building on unstable slopes part...hmmm..sounds like Coastal Southern California.

[amazondk]

Bill,

I guess it is a similar situation. The coastal area of the state of Rio de Janeiro is a very beautiful area and real estate is expensive and prime locations by the water are limited. And, a lot of construction has been done in risk areas. Mudslides pre date human occupation for a long time. And, with the combination of granite moutains and earth such events are bound to happen. In some areas man has made the problem greater by modifying the vegetation cover as well removing much of the forest. But, even with the forest if the ground gets saturated enough it will move down hill due to the natural force of gravity. January is the prime vacation month in Brazil and many people are in the area to spend the month by the beach. Mother nature has certainly upset some plans. At the present at least 3,000 homes will probably be declared unsafe for habitation. The governor is pointing fingers all over the place and others are pointing at others for irregular constrctuction in risk zones.

I found a few pictures o the area here - Angra dos Reis

It is a beautiful area.

[amazondk]

And, here is the aftermath of the rain.

The governor at the site of the buried Hotel where 30 some people died.

[Davidl]

That is sad Don for sure and my prayers go out to those people. That is a beautiful place.

[amazondk]

David,

It is a real sad story. The daughter of the owner of the hotel that was buried was with a group of friends of hers from college and many of them including her died. The owners of the hotel had built the place as a life´s project and in a matter of minutes had it all wiped out along with their 18 year old daughter. That would be hard for anyone to handle. Hopefully there be more controls put on where buildings are built from now on. I have driven the highway there a few times. It reminds one of driving the coastal highway in California except it is tropical. Along the road are all kinds of granite boulders. I always looked at them knowning that they rolled down from somewhere. Mountains will always shed rock and earth if the conditions are right. And, that is if there are people living there or not. It was an accident waiting to happen. This year there has been a lot of rain in the region now for some time which has soaked the ground and created the instablitiy.

dk

[Tyrone]

That's really bad Don. It's a bit hard to quite comprehend the agony the friends and family would be going through now. Some places just shouldn't have buildings on them.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Tyrone,

Here is a link with some pictures of the Hotel. It was a beautiful place. There are tabs on the page which have pictures of the different aspects of the place and landscape.

Pousada Sankay