Flooding in Brazil

Hey citizens of the world! Today we have a very important contribution from teacher Bruno Costa. He wrote this very precise article about the sad flooding events which have been occurring in Brazil.

"In the recent weeks, the state of Rio de Janeiro has been the scene of a tragedy of unseen proportions in Brazilian history. More then 600 people have died in the flood that devastated up to 7 cities, leaving behind desperate families, civil and economic instability and the cost of millions to public funds. Meanwhile, in the news, one can also here from disastrous raining in Queensland, Australia. In terms of natural turmoil, the two events are quite similar. But similarities end when the events are seen through their social consequences. There is no doubt that a maximum of 50 deaths yet in the Australian flooding is not the same as 600 casualties, increasing day by day, down here in Brazil.

When Mother-nature strikes hard, human and material loss is inevitable. But responsible planning, care and attention from civil authorities can minimize this loss and prepare people for the bad times do come. With such efforts, these people surely would not be in a worse situation then what they are passing now. And since year by year numbers related to flood damage in Brazil have gone rocket high, perhaps facts are showing us that to treat this solemnly as a well-known and intermittent problem will not due. After all, behind these numbers, there are real people."

by teacher Bruno Costa

Philosopher and Graduate student at the Education Department- UNICAMP.

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Thank you, Bruno!

Here are some links from some international news about the flooding:

This page shows all of the recent news (Time.com)about the flooding and mudslides:

http://search.time.com/results.html?N=0&Nty=1&Ntt=brazil&x=0&y=0&p=0&cmd=tags&srchCat=Full+Archive

NYTimes:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/world/americas/17brazil.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=brazil&st=cse

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/school_report/9363900.stm

Al Jazeera:http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/01/20111140122621565.html

The Mainichi Daily News (Japan):

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/international/archive/news/2011/01/13/20110113p2g00m0in063000c.html