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World Bank Preparing $485 Million in Brazil Flood Aid

   VOA News  19 January 2011
   A  boy  pushes  his  bicycle  in a flooded street after heavy rains at
   Jardim Pantanal neighborhood in Sao Paulo, 15 Jan 2011

Photo: Reuters

   A  boy  pushes  his  bicycle  in a flooded street after heavy rains at
   Jardim Pantanal neighborhood in Sao Paulo, 15 Jan 2011

   The  World  Bank  says  it is preparing to lend Brazil $485 million in
   emergency  relief after flooding and mudslides devastated parts of the
   country.
   The  World Bank's Brazil director, Makhtar Diop, said Tuesday the bank
   hopes  to  approve  the  first  portion  of  the  loan  "in the coming
   weeks."Â  He said the initial piece would be worth $290 million.
   The Brazilian government last week allocated $460 million in aid.
   Ffficials said Tuesday the disaster's death toll is now more than 700.
   Rescue crews, including military helicopters, continue to try to reach
   residents  after heavy rains sent an avalanche of mud, water and rocks
   plowing through towns and villages. Â
   On  Monday,  authorities  sent  hundreds  of  emergency  personnel  to
   neighborhoods  that  have  been cut off from help by smashed roads and
   bridges.
   The  affected areas received the equivalent of a month's worth of rain
   in just a few hours.
   The  hardest  hit  towns  have been Teresopolis and Nova Friburgo, and
   flooding has also affected Petropolis and Sumidouro.
   Landslides  and  floods  are  common  in  Brazil, often affecting poor
   communities with shacks built on steep, unstable hills.
   In  January of last year, more than 50 people died in mudslides in the
   beach  town  of  Angra  dos  Reis,  and  at  least  180 people died in
   landslides last April that devastated slum communities in Rio.

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