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Angra dos Reis-Morro da Carioca-2010-01-04

The January 2010 Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides was an

extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...

event that affected the

State of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in the first days of January 2010. At least 85 people died, with at least 29 people in the Hotel Sankey after it was destroyed by

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

s, and many more have been injured. More than 4,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes. The worst affected municipality was

Angra dos Reis Angra dos Reis (; Portuguese language, Portuguese for ''cove'' or ''bay of the Kings'') is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality located in the southern part of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. Th ...

, about southwest of the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. At least 35 people were killed at a resort on

Ilha Grande Ilha Grande (), or "big island", is a forested island located around 12 km (7.5 mi) off of the Atlantic coast of Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and about 243 km (151 mi) from São Paulo. The highest point on Ilha Grande is the tall Pic ...

:. about forty people were staying in the hotel which was buried under a mudslide, and the death toll is expected to rise further.. Brazil's only functioning

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

, Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto, is also located within the municipality: plans were made for a temporary shutdown, as blocked roads would make any evacuation difficult or impossible in the event of an incident at the plant. In

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, at least seven people died and 20 went missing after a bridge collapsed due to heavy rains. Around 60 tons of dead fish washed up in a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

beginning in January, possibly as a result of local

ocean anoxia An anoxic event describes a period wherein large expanses of Earth's oceans were depleted of dissolved oxygen (O2), creating toxic, euxinic (anoxic and sulfidic) waters. Although anoxic events have not happened for millions of years, the geologic ...

caused by

algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...

s triggered by increased

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

from the excess run-off produced by the flooding.

References

External links

In pictures: Brazil's mudslide tragedy
picture gallery from BBC News 2010 disasters in Brazil 2010 floods 2010s floods in Brazil Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides 01 Rio de Janeiro 2010.01 January 2010 in South America

See also

References

Further reading

External links