Rio de Janeiro flooding 2011

On the other hand, the opposite side of the continent, i.e. the Rio region in Brazil, on the east coast of South America, suffered from big flooding only a few weeks ago (read more). 860 people are reported dead, and hundreds are still missing (read more). Apparently it was the heavy rainfall in combination with houses built in areas where they were not suppose to be that caused what is said to be the worst natural disaster in Brazilian history. The region received 160 mm of rain in only four hours, the same amount that is expected for the whole January (read more). The meteorological phenomena La niña can, at least to a certain extent, be blamed for the flooding. This years La niña is claimed to be the strongest ever recorded. I will talk more about La niña and it's opposite, El niño, later. The pictures below shows some of the greenery of Santa Catarina.