Why have so many died in Brazil's floods?
| 14:10 UK time, Friday, 14 January 2011
More than 500 people are now known to have died in the floods in south-eastern Brazil.
As we heard in our programme on Thursday, there have been desperate scenes as people tried to avoid the mudslides that engulfed towns such as Petropolis and Teresopolis.
And now with police saying the death toll will rise even further, questions are beginning to be asked about why the casualties are so high - particularly in contrast with Australia, which has also seen widespread flooding but with far fewer people killed.
Brazil's President Rousseff has touched on the subject, saying the destruction is an "act of God" - but also expressing anger at illegal construction:
"We saw areas in which mountains untouched by men dissolved. But we also saw areas in which illegal occupation caused damage to the health and lives of people."
Meanwhile Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral has blamed local governments for allowing poor building and illegal occupations:
"Unfortunately, what we saw in Petropolis, Teresopolis and Nova Friburgo, since the 1980s, was a problem similar to what happened in the city of Rio - letting the poorer people occupy risk areas."
The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Pablo Cabral - who will be joining us on the programme on Friday - says that while favela dwellers often say they have no choice but to live in high-risk areas built on hillsides, that is not the case in Teresopolis:
"Many of the devastated houses were nice holiday properties kept by Rio residents, who come to the mountains to escape the oppressive heat of summer in the city. The waterfalls, steep slopes and fantastic views from this mountain range are a magnet for visitors but also provide for a rather dangerous and unstable terrain.
So why have so many people died? Should the government - either regional or national - have done more to deal with people living in the areas? Or should people have done more to avoid living in at risk areas?
