The landslides that devastated Petropolis this week demolished houses and ripped families apart, scarred hillsides and hearts, left at least 120 dead and nearly as many missing.
And it was all largely predictable — and to some degree, preventable.
Rapid urbanization, poor planning, lack of financing for subsidized housing — all of these things have afflicted this mountain city in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state. Little has been done in response to repeated warnings about the risks of mountainside construction, researchers as well as current and former public servants told The Associated Press.
And with evidence indicating that climate change is causing more intense rainfall, peril has only increased — not just for Petropolis, but elsewhere as well.
More than 1,500 people have died in similar landslides in recent decades in that portion of the Serra do Mar range. There have been more than 400 deaths from heavy storms in Petropolis alone since 1981.
