Emergency Aid to Flood Victims in Brazil
Flooding and mudslides caused by heavy rains in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco left more than 85,000 people homeless in two separate flooding devastations in 2004 and 2005.
One of the hundreds of sections of interstate roads damaged in the January 2004 floods.
"Dry Season" Rainfall Douses Most Vulnerable Communities: Worst Floods in Fifty Years
Brazil's typical rainy season runs from February through May, but in January 2005, rainfall on a scale unseen in half a century caused massive flooding in 15 states of Brazil, most of them in the extremely poor Northeast region of the country. Many rivers overran their banks, damaging homes, schools and businesses, contaminating potable water sources, disrupting local commerce and employment, and displacing hundreds of thousands of poor families.
Local government officials estimated that more than 200,000 people were evacuated from their homes, with thousands more stranded as the widespread floods destroyed local roads and infrastructure. Temporary shelters struggled to handle the large number of survivors seeking refuge. Food, blankets, mattresses, clean water, and medicine were all in short supply. Damages exceeded US$40 million, and more than 100 deaths were reported.
Government officials had to focus first on repairing major highways, dams and public infrastructures, so CRS and its partners played a key role in providing humanitarian assistance. CRS rushed emergency workers to the affected areas to provide food, shelter, medicines, clothing and blankets. CRS worked with several partners, including Cáritas Brazil, OXFAM, UNICEF and USAID to assess the damage in order to plan a coordinated response for both immediate and long-term relief.
Devasting Flooding Strikes Again
Then, just a little over one year later, in the first three days of June 2005, parts of Pernambuco state received over 9 inches of rainfall, the equivalent of 59% of average rainfall for the entire month. The resulting floods caused almost US$78 million in damage to infrastructure, schools, agriculture and schools. This highly unusual volume of rainfall caused rivers to overflow, destroyed bridges, flooded roadways, and destroyed or damaged more than 6,265 homes throughout the state.
Residents of Mirandiba in Pernambuco, one the hardest-hit states, assess what's left of their town after massive flooding damage..
The majority of the 32,000 people forced to flee their homes became permanently homeless. They were already very poor, many of them elderly. With nowhere else to go, they took refuge in schools and community centers, but access to adequate food and potable water in these shelters was highly suspect.
In response to the flood insecurity situation in the shelters, CRS Brazil conducted emergency intervention and supplied humanitarian relief to the victims made homeless by the floods. CRS Brazil worked in concert with local churches and two local project partners, Brazilian Cáritas Regional Northeast II and the Women's Center of Vitoria de Santo Antão.
The project served 3,830 people in 766 families in three municipalities in Pernambuco state: Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Moreno and Vitoria de Santo Antão. CRS Brazil and its partners met beneficiaries' food, water and sanitation needs by distributing a water filter, monthly food basket, monthly personal hygiene kit, and monthly cleaning supply kit to each family for two months.
As the immediate relief needs subside, CRS is carrying out the long-term effort to prepare for future disaters. This is done by training people to advocate for their rights on a public policy level as well as building infrasctructure like cement, dams, and cisterns to mitigate future rain damage.
