The AGU landslide blog stressed that 10 inches of rain in only a couple of hours are rare worldwide and that when they do occur, the damage to life and property is always significant. The total rainfall in Rio de Janeiro state was equivalent to one months worth of rain.
In the hills above Rio De Janeiro in the community of Petropolis, massive amounts of rainfall fell in just a couple of hours. The flooding and mudslides have killed 38 people at the time of this posting. The toll will likely increase, according to local authorities. Recovery has been difficult due to over at least 49 sites across the city. Besides the state of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais also was hard hit by rainfall.
In 2011 over 900 people were killed in a similar event in Rio.
The LA Times described the city like this:
Petropolis is a German-influenced city named for former Emperor Dom Pedro I. Nestled in the mountains above Rio de Janeiro, for almost two centuries it has been a refuge for people escaping summer heat and tourists keen to explore Brazil’s “Imperial City.” It features stately mansions along its waterways, but its mountainsides are covered with homes packed tightly together, some of which lack proper foundations.
The Supply Chain Council of Europe writes on the event.
According to Don Keeney, a meteorologist with commercial forecaster Maxar, northern Brazil is “too rainy” while the south is “too dry.” According to Carine Gama, a meteorologist at Sao Paulo-based Climatempo, this is a common pattern induced by the La Nina phenomena, exacerbated by other variables such as Atlantic warming.
Few families are adequately prepared for natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, and wildfires. As the climate has changed, extreme weather events have become more intense and frequent in recent years.
Unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremities of the historical distribution-the range seen in the past; and weather at the extremes of the historical distribution-the range observed in the past. Extreme weather is sometimes characterized as being in the most unusual 10 percent of a location’s documented weather history.
There is evidence that some severe weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. Changes in the frequency or amplitude of severe heat and cold events, as well as increases in heavy precipitation and drought severity, have the greatest level of confidence in the attribution of extreme weather and other phenomena to human climate change.
According to Thomas M. Kostigen, the author of a new National Geographic book called the Extreme Weather Survival Guide, preparing for natural catastrophes is essential.
Climate change is a threat multiplier. South Brazil is too dry, and northern Brazil is too wet due to manmade emissions of greenhouse gases. Crops were lost during a recent blistering heatwave and, not only in southern Brazil but also in Argentina and Uraguay, by drought that damaged crops.
On Twitter, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on a trip to Russia, said he asked his ministers to provide prompt assistance to the victims.
Extreme weather in Brazil’s commodity powerhouse echoes throughout the world, driving up prices for everything from soybeans to metals.
Crop losses in the country’s south have stifled what was intended to be a record year for oilseed output in the world’s largest producer, as mentioned by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the country’s northern half is plagued by the inverse problem: an overabundance of water.