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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 or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...

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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

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, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

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 for ''cove'' or ''bay of the Kings'') is a Brazilian municipality located in the southern part of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The city is located by the sea and includes in its territory many offshore islands, the l ...

, about southwest of the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. At least 35 people were killed at a resort on

Ilha Grande Ilha Grande ( "Big Island") is an island located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The island, which is part of the municipality of Angra dos Reis, remains largely undeveloped. For almost a century it was closed by the Brazilian gov ...

:. 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) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

, 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 st ...

, 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'') a ...

beginning in January, possibly as a result of local

ocean anoxia Oceanic anoxic events or anoxic events (Anoxic waters, anoxia conditions) describe periods wherein large expanses of Earth's oceans were depleted of dissolved Oxygen, oxygen (O2), creating toxic, Euxinia, euxinic (anoxic and sulfidic) waters. Al ...

caused by

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

s triggered by increased

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

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 events in South America

See also

References

Further reading

External links