Everyday English – Death toll from flooding, mudslides hits 102 in southeastern Brazil
- Source: Global Times
- [13:32 April 09 2010]
- Comments
The death toll from floods and mudslides unleashed by torrential rains has risen to 102 in southeastern Brazil, firefighters said Wednesday, as the most intense rains in half a century paralyzed the Rio de Janeiro area and brought scenes of fear and chaos.
Authorities said 37 people were killed in Rio, but the hardest hit was Niteroi, a city on the other side of the bay from Rio, where 53 people were killed. Most of the deaths occurred in hillside slums where heavy rains since Monday have triggered devastating mudslides.
Aerial images aired on Brazilian television showed people begging for help on the top of a three- or four-story building teetering on the edge of a precipice after a landslide in the favela Morro das Mangueiras north of Rio.
"Those people are practically committing suicide. It's irresponsible for them to stay there," muttered Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral as he was shown images of people waving clothes and plastic buckets to signal for help.
Some motorists abandoned their partially submerged cars, while others were stranded for hours inside stalled vehicles.
"All the major streets of the city are closed because of the floods," Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said.
Paes ordered schools closed Wednesday for a second day to keep people off the streets. Separately, Cabral decreed three days of mourning.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized decades of administrative malfeasance, which allowed shoddy home construction in high-risk zones of the city's shantytowns.
The Brazilian leader was in Rio for ribbon-cutting ceremonies for a new health center, but the event was canceled by rains, which made it nearly impossible to travel from one part of the city to another.
Officials for too long, Lula said, have closed their eyes to substandard construction, even on Rio's landslide-prone hills. Lula vowed that his government would work to improve the quality of construction in these areas.
Until the waters subside, however, there is little that can be done, he said.
"All we can do is pray to God to hold back the rains a little so Rio can return to normal, and so we can set about fixing the things in the city that need fixing," the Brazilian leader told local radio.
AFP
Notes:
Unleashed – (verb) To release from, or release from a leash.
Mother Nature unleashed a powerful earthquake, causing flooding and landslides that resulted in the deaths of many people.
Paralyzed – (verb) To bring into a condition of helplessness; to make ineffective or powerless.
When the man pointed the gun at me, I was paralyzed with fear and didn't know what to do.
Precipice – (noun) A vertical, or almost vertical rock face or steep cliff. It can also mean a hazardous situation, verging on disaster.
The man felt like he was on the edge of a precipice, was dealing with a number of problems, from his company going bankrupt to his wife threatening to divorce him.
Malfeasance – (noun) Wrongdoing or misconduct, especially by a public official.
Corrupt officials who conduct malfeasance, especially taking money from public coffers should be punished severely.
