A series of floods and mudslides occurred in January 2011 in several towns in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over 900 people were killed, with the worst impacts in Nova Friburgo and Teresópolis where over 400 and 378 people died respectively. The disasters were triggered by over 26cm of rain falling in under 24 hours, more than an entire month's worth of rain. Whole families and homes were buried by cascades of mud and debris. The Brazilian government provided emergency relief funding and assistance with reconstruction efforts.

1. NON CYCLONIC
STORM AND
LANDSLIDE IN BRAZIL
2011
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
MANPREET KAUR SIDDHARTH VERMA(1610991848)
SIDDHANT SHARMA(1610991847)
SIDHANT BISHT(16109911849)
SIDHARTH SHARMA(1610991850)
SIMERPREET SINGH(16109911851)
1

2. CASE STUDY PLAN
GROUP NO : CSE L-13
2
I.TITLE NON CYCLONIC STORM AND LANDSLIDE IN BRAZIL 2011
II. GROUP
STUDYPLAN
CASE INVESTIGATERS
1 SIDDHARTH VERMA(1610991848) --- PRINTING
2 SIDHANT BISHT(16109911849) --- EDITING THE FINAL
REPORT
3 SIDHARTH SHARMA(1610991850) --- BINDING + INTERNET
RESEARCH
4 SIMERPREET SINGH(16109911851) --- SCRIPT WRITING
5 SIDHARTH SHARMA(1610991850 --- LIBRARY STUDY

3. CASE STUDY - Non cyclonic storm and landslide in Brazil
2011
I-Abstract
A series of floods and mudslides took place in January 2011 in several towns of the
Mountainous Region (Região Serrana), in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.
Casualties occurred in the cities of Nova Friburgo, Teresópolis, Petrópolis, Bom
Jardim, Sumidouro and São José do Vale do Rio Preto. The floods caused at least
903 deaths, including 424 in Nova Friburgo and 378 in Teresópolis.
While local media claims that the combination of floods, mudslides and landslides
in Rio de Janeiro became the worst weather-related natural disaster in Brazilian
history, some contend that a similar weather-related tragedy that took place in the
same state in 1967 was much deadlier, and that an estimated 1,700 people lost their
lives on that occasion.
In a 24-hour period between 11 and 12 January 2011, the local weather service
registered more rainfall than what is expected for the entire month. Flooding of
many areas in the region followed immediately. The disaster caused widespread
property damage and the supply of public utilities such as electricity, running water
and phone lines was affected. Around 2960 people had their homes destroyed.
President Dilma Rousseff declared that an emergency R$ 780 million (U.S. $466.2
million) would become available for reconstruction workers. Acting governor Luís
Fernando Pezão sent reinforcements to the affected region and requested urgent
federal assistance in machinery, helicopters and manpower.
3

4. II-Problem Statement
The causes of landslides are usually related to instabilities in slopes. It is usually
possible to identify one or more lansdslide causes and one landslide trigger. The
difference between these two concepts is subtle but important. The landslide
causes are the reasons that a landslide occurred in that location and at that time.
Landslide causes are listed in the following table, and
include geological factors, morphological factors, physical factors and factors
associated with human activity.
Causes may be considered to be factors that made the slope vulnerable to failure,
that predisposethe slope to becoming unstable. The trigger is the single event that
finally initiated the landslide. Thus, causes combine to make a slope vulnerable to
failure, and the trigger finally initiates the movement. Landslides can have many
causes but can only have one trigger as shown in the next figure. Usually, it is
relatively easy to determine the trigger after the landslide has occurred (although it
is generally very difficult to determine the exact nature of landslide triggers ahead
of a movement event).
In meteorology, a cyclone is a large scale air mass that rotates around a strong
center of low atmospheric pressure. . All large-scale cyclones are centered on low-
pressure areas The largest low-pressure systems are extratropical cyclones of the
largest scale Warm-core cyclones such as cyclones and subtropicalcyclones also
lie within the synoptic scale Mesocyclones, tornadoes and dust devils lie within the
smaller mesoscale Upper level cyclones can exist without the presence of a surface
low, and can pinch off from the baseof the Trough during the summer months in
the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclones have also been seen on extraterrestrial planets,
4

5. III-BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Torrential rainstorms, which began yesterday, triggered a series of deadly
mudslides in at least three mountaintop towns to the north of Rio. Dozens of
people were buried alive as they slept, among them children.
The mountains saw 26cm (10in) of rain fall in less than 24 hours.
The worst hit area was Teresópolis, a popular hillside tourist town around 60 miles
north of Rio where at least 130 residents were buried under cascades of terracotta
mud and debris. Whole families were buried alive while at least 2,000 people were
reportedly forced from their homes.
"My friend has lost 15 relatives today," said Andreia Mattos, who was spending
her 45th birthday outside the city's morgue last night surrounded by masked
doctors and weeping locals desperately seeking information about missing
relatives. "It wasn't just the poor who were hit - it was mansions, everything. It all
came down.
5

6. IV-FINDING
During my unfortunate lull in posts an extraordinary landslide disaster has of
course unfolded in Brazil, killing at least 700 people, and possibly more than a
thousand. The trigger has been very heavy rainfall associated with the current La
Nina conditions, although the underlying cause is likely to be a combination of
people living in the wrong places and damage to the environment as a result of
human activities. The epicentre has been the three towns of Nova Friburgo,
Teresopolis and Petropolis, located to the north of Rio de Janeiro. So let’s take a
look at Nova Friburgo.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the remote border region of Acre in the
Brazilian Amazon at around mid-day yesterday. Telephone lines are down and
there are reports of minor damage to houses. As yet, no serious casualties have
been reported.
Tremors were felt in the town of Cruzeiro do Sul, in the state of Acre, Brazil, News
Tremors were felt in the town of Cruzeiro do Sul, in the state of Acre, Brazil,
image by earthquake.usgs.gov.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey the quake originated in the
town of Pucallpa, in a sparsely populated central-eastern region of Peru on the
border with Brazil, some 600 km (370 miles) from the Peruvian capital Lima.
Shock waves were felt up to 210 km (130 miles) from the epicenter, in the town of
Cruzeiro do Sul in the state of Acre. However, seismologists are not anticipating
major damage because the earthquake occurred almost 145 km (90 miles)
6

7. The worst hit area was Teresópolis, a popular hillside tourist town around 60 miles
north of Rio where at least 130 residents were buried under cascades of terracotta
mud and debris. Whole families were buried alive while at least 2,000 people were
reportedly forced from their homes.
"My friend has lost 15 relatives today," said Andreia Mattos, who was spending
her 45th birthday outside the city's morgue last night surrounded by masked
doctors and weeping locals desperately seeking information about missing
relatives. "It wasn't just the poor who were hit - it was mansions, everything. It all
came down."
Next to her crying women leafed nervously through an A-4 notepad filled with
pictures of unidentified corpses, bloated, mud-soaked limbs and babies whose
smooth faces had been frozen into peaceful gazes by their sudden deaths. Written
on the pad's frontcover were the words: "Victims of the natural disaster - 12.1.11".
The Guardian counted at least 8 babies among the photographs, as well as toddlers,
teenagers and elderly women.
7

8. V-Conclusion
This study help us to understand condition occurred durind a disaster and teach us
how a disaster occur in brazil.When Brazil is in disaster danger government plays a
vital role in it . President Dilma Rousseff declared that an emergency R$780
million (U.S. $466.2 million) would become available for reconstruction
workers. Acting governor Luís Fernando Pezão sent reinforcements to the affected
region and requested urgent federal assistance in machinery, helicopters and
manpower. Rescue efforts were led by municipal governments, which also
provided shelter and amenities for the newly homeless, often in
schools. The Brazilian Navy and the Rio de Janeiro state government set up field
hospitals to assist the victims and to support rescue workers. A team of workers in
the operation had prior experience with the 2010 Rio de Janeiro floods and 2010
Haiti earthquake Analysts have commented that President Rousseff through her
management of the crisis "passed... her first big test", but that the structural
challenges that make certain (poverty-stricken) areas particularly hard hit in times
of environmental disaster, still need to be addressed. At last i want to conclude that
the these disasters are a part of nature and one cannot stop them only prevent them
by being ready beforehand.
8

9. VI-Reference
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2011_Rio_de_Janeiro_floods_and_mudsl
ides
2 www.theguardian.com
3 http://all-geo.org/
4 Textbookof disaster management
9