Appeal Target: US$ 813,743
Balance Requested: US$ 796,497
Geneva, 31 January 2011
Dear Colleagues,
On January 12, almost one month's worth of rain fell in 24 hours, devastating the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a result, the light soils of the mountains became saturated, resulting in severe landslides which could better be described as avalanches. River levels rose rapidly by over six meters, triggering large scale loss of life, destruction of housing and infrastructure.
Almost two weeks after the heavy rains, the official number of dead people has passed 840, with more than 540 missing. Information from local partners in the field indicates the number of dead could reach over 2000. There are more than 75,000 people in those seven cities that have been directly affected and still more than 20,000 homeless.
This disaster has been described by the national government as the second worst in Brazilian history after the outbreak of meningitis in 1974. The United Nations has described the landslides as the eighth worst in world history. Caritas reports that in total, up to one million people have been affected, mainly in the Rio de Janeiro region, but also in the districts of S=E3o Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina. The local authorities believe the death toll will rise to over 1000 in that region alone. According to the national government, 104 bridges and 6864 houses have been destroyed in the seven municipalities of the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, around 90km from the city of Rio de Janeiro
Rapid assessments were done by ACT Member KOINONIA staff with their local partners: ABIO and the two local Lutheran churches. The local Lutheran church in Petropolis and Nova Friburgo have distributed bottled water, dried food and supplies for babies including clothing, diapers and bedding to over 80 families. The ACT Forum Brazil issued an alert to ACT Alliance and the international community following the emergency.
There is an urgent necessity of US$ 50,000 in order to continue with the activities.
Project Completion Date: 30 September 2011