New landslide video from Brazil

Live Leak has an impressive video of a large debris flow striking and destroying a house, reportedly in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil :

The location of the Morro do Bumba landslide in Niteroi, Brazil

Thanks to a video posted on the BBC website, I have managed to locate the Niteroi landslide, which is a garbage dump slide that is believed to have killed over 200 people.  The slide is at the following coordinates:  22.893° S, -43.085°W

On a Google Earth image this area looks like this:

 A zoomed in view looks like this (the crown of the landslide is at the bottom of the image):

Thus, a perspective view of the landslide looks like this (looking from the toe towards the crown):

It is clear that a large number of houses have been destroyed.  Google Earth measurements suggest that the slide is about 300 metres long and 50-70 metres wide.    It is interesting that most of the crown appears to be located at a road (see the screenshot from the video below) - which might suggest that drainage was an issue in the causation of the failure:

The description of the slide as an old garbage dump is certainly correct judging by this image from O Globo:

The likelihood of surviving burial in a garbage landslide is very low given the density of the material, the release of methane gas and in some cases the release of heat from the decaying material - see my earlier post here on the hazards posed by garbage dump landslides.  Needless to say the recovery and clean up operation will be both very difficult and very unpleasant for those involved.

Stop Press: Over 200 people buried in last night's landslide in Niteroi, Brazil?

AP is reporting that over 200 people have been buried in last night's landslide in Niteroi, Brazil:

"A top Rio de Janeiro state security official says at least 200 people have been buried in the latest landslide to hit the area. Civil Defense subsecretary Pedro Machado tells Globo television that the slide plowed into a slum in the city of Niteroi. Machado said Thursday that anyone there at the time was likely killed instantly."

O Globo's report also confirms that the landslide did occur on an old garbage dump, which was abandoned in 1986.

If over 50 houses were struck by this slide in the middle of the night a death toll of this order is certainly possible.

Another major landslide in the Rio de Janeiro area of Brazil

 O Globo in Brazil is reporting that another large landslide (in Portuguese "deslizamento de terra" for those looking the original website) struck the Niteroi area overnight, burying up to 50 houses, following the multiple slides yesterday.  The slide (shown below in an image from O Globo) occurred at Viçoso Jardim, in the Niteroi suburb of Cubango.  At least five people have been killed, with an unknown number of people missing.  The site is reportedly an old garbage dump that has subsequently been occupied by illegal dwellings.

Overall the toll from this multiple landslide disaster is very high.  To date the confirmed number of fatalities is 150, with 135 people injured and 40 or so still missing.  The Civil Defense agency is reporting 806 rainfall induced events, most of them landslides of various types. The reader-led O Globo map of the distribution of the events is a fantastic resource.  Hopefully it will be visible here:


Visualizar O mapa da devastação no Rio em um mapa maior


The landslides vary in size and nature considerably, but some are quite large, as this AP image shows:

Widespread landslides in Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi in Brazil

Over the last few days the city of Rio de Janeiro, and its twin city Niteroi just across the water, have been affected by extremely intense rainfall - a reported 288 mm in 24 hours.  The upshot has been a series of flash floods and landslides that have killed over 100 people so far.  More heavy rain is expected today.

O Globo has produced an interactive map of the Rio and Niteroi regions in which readers are invited to add information about their area.  This gives a first order estimate of the impacts of the rainfall:

Alagamento = flooding;
Lixo, lama e avores = garbage, mud and trees
Deslizamento = landslide
Postos de deocoes = Donation stations

It appears that many of the slides have affected the shanty towns constructed on the hillsides around the cities.  Over the next few days I will try to collate a list of the major fatality inducing landslides, but for now
O Globo has these two images of landslides that have affected residential areas:

Strangely, it is often a slightly abstract image that captures the horror of the event.  O Globo also has this exceptionally powerful photograph:

Finally, it is interesting to note that this rainfall event appears not to have been captured by the TRMM landslide warning system:

24 hours of rainfall (the yellow circles indicate those areas considered to be at risk of landslides):

72 hours of rainfall (the yellow circles indicate those areas considered to be at risk of landslides):

More later.

Loss of life in the Brazil landslides

Updated 18:40UT on 4th January 2010

The loss of life in the Brazil landslides is now as follows:

1. Pousada Sankay (Sankai) in Praia do Bananal, Ilha Grande
So far 29 bodies have been recovered. Three victims are still believed to be buried in the debris, although the authorities cannot rule out the possibility of further victims.

2. The landslide at Morro da Carioca, Angra dos Reis
The number of recovered victims now stands at 21, with a high chance of further victims yet to be recovered.

The Brazilian Newspaper Globo has a superb Flash-based before and after comparison for both sites on its news webpage here. It is well worth a look.

Latest updates on the Brazil landslides

Latest update (3rd Jan 22:40 UT) here

Updated 22:47 UT with revised fatality count
Updated with an additional photo

Globo now has a more detailed report with images of the landslides today in Brazil that I covered in an earlier post.

1. The landslide at pousada Sankay (Sankai) in Praia do Bananal, Ilha Grande


Nineteen (Nb updated from 14) bodies have now been found at the site of the lodge and in the sea around. The images of the site show a shallow slide at the interface between the regolith and bedrock. Five people have been rescued alive.

Update: Sky News has this additional image, which shows that the slide is much larger than the image above suggests:



2. The landslide at Morro da Carioca, Angra dos Reis

This landslide is believed to have killed ten (updated from five) people. There must be real concern about the other houses located at the toe of this slope, which appears to have signs of distress in other locations in addition to the new landslide.

3. Other landslides
Sadly, the three year old girl rescued from the landslide in Cascadura, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, yesterday, has died. This brings the toll from this period of heavy rainfall to 39.

Another large landslide in Brazil?

News on these landslides has been updated here

The Washington Post is reporting another substantive landslide in Brazil, this time on Ilha Grande, an island off the city of Angra dos Reis, near to Rio de Janeiro. The report says that the slide hit a vacation lodge and three houses, killing at least ten people.

The original source of this story appears to be this Globo report, which carries an image of the lodge, called the Sankay in Enseada do Bananal:

The report suggests that the slide happened at 3:30 am when most of the guests were sleeping.

A description of the lodge can be found here, and this is their website, which is currently down.

Interestingly, the report also suggests that "In the center of Angra dos Reis, the Civil Defense said that 22 people were missing in the Morro da Carioca, where a landslide hit several houses", although at the moment I am unsure as to whether this report is correct.

News on these landslides has been updated here

Mudslides in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Various international news agencies are reporting that the year is ending with a number of fatal landslides in and around Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. For example, the BBC report says:

"Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides in Brazil, leaving at least 11 people dead. Officials said the worst incident had occurred in Jacarepagua, in the western part of Rio de Janeiro state, where a family of five died in a landslide. The state has been hit by 24 hours of downpours threatening new year celebrations on Copacabana Beach"

Whilst the report on AP says:
"Heavy rains in the Rio de Janeiro area have triggered mudslides that have killed at least 18 people. Rio de Janeiro state's Office of Civil Defence says that more deaths are likely as more rains are expected."

A quick look at the TRMM cumulative precipitation graphs for this area suggests that it has suffered from a prolonged period of heavy rainfall, mostly falling in heavy rainfall events:

Further rain is forecast for the next 24 hours.

New landslide video - houses destroyed in Brazil, November 2008

I have come across an impressive and dramatic landslide video, apparently from Brazil and taken in November 2008. The video quality is reasonably good:



Or you can go directly to the Liveleak web page.

New landslide videos - slow moving slides affecting houses

I have come across yet another new landslide video. This one was shot in Brazil during the recent heavy rainfall there. This one is quite unusual as the landslide is large and slow moving, but in the video it overruns a house, causing it to collapse:

You should be able to play the movie below:



There is also a short video of a landslide removing the support from a deck at the back of a house, which then collapses, here:

Brazil landslides

Over the last month Brazil has suffered terribly from heavy rainfall that has induced extensive flooding and landslides. Over130 people have been killed to date.

This week, Minas Gerais state has been heavily affected. The Latin American Herald Tribune has today released this image of some of the damage. It shows how small, shallow soil slips are causing extensive damage to houses.

Another amazing Brazilian landslide video

Thanks to Christoph for the heads-up on this one. Following on from the two last week, another amazing landslide video has emerged from Brazil. This can be seen at this site:

http://www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/video/2008/12/aardverschuiving_vs_ambulance.html

Click on the video on the web page to play it. The ambulancemen were very fortunate. The rate of movement and the violence of the landslide is quite remarkable.

Brazil landslide disaster videos

Unfortunately Santa Catarina Province in Brazil is currently being affected by dreadful landslides and floods associated with a period of exceptionally heavy rainfall. The death toll is rising rapidly.

Incredibly, Brazilian news agencies appear to have caught at least two landslides in action. They can both be seen in the following Youtube video:



The first occurs right at the start of the clip. Unfortunately the film does not cover all of the slide, just the first few seconds. This is better caught on a video that I cannot embed, but which is at the start of the clip that can be found here. The second occurs at about the 16th second of the embedded video. I hope that better resolution film will appear in due course - please let me know if you come across it.

Meanwhile, a few images are appearing of the landslide damage, such as this:


UPDATE: I have now found a Youtube version of the first of the landslides above. Hopefully it will play below: