500 more homes destroyed by 'heavy rain'

[donsu]

http://webmail.bellsouth.net/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+mobmain?


More rain expected in already saturated Peruvian jungle
2007-02-01, 06:13:58 UTC
Peru

Rain has already caused limited access to some areas in the southern Peruvian jungle regions. The Peruvian National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI in Spanish) has warned that 6 departments from the southern Peruvian jungle regions will see heavy rain and electrical storms through Saturday. The official notification, which was released this morning at 10am, informed that the jungle regions of Cuzco and Madre de Dios will see the most severe weather. Although moderate to light rain is expected to affect other areas, such as Ucayali, Junin, Pasco, and Huanuco, SENAMHI still urged residents to take precautions and to be alert for emergency bulletins from their local authorities. In the province of La Convenion (Cuzco), severe rain has already flooded many area roads, causing limited access to the town. Only 9 days ago, mudslides caused by heavy rain in the Chanchamyo, destoryed more than 500 homes and killed 8 people.

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'heavy rain' is taking a toll on property and people around the world

[StClone]

1. Kinda like the "heavy rains"

In California that wash away homes perched on precipitous slopes down slope from fire denuded foothills.

[donsu]

2. these homes were in a jungle area

nt

[StClone]

4. I have to think

That the homes are on slopes and in areas where the jungle has been removed. Jungles rarely have mudslides even in the heaviest of rain. Just my observation.

[SoCalDem]

5. And jungle soil is notoriously "unstable"

That's why, when the trees get cut down, crops only grow well for a short time before the soil is depleted.

As humans encroach further and further into previously rainforest land, they can only expect more of these "floods".

People who DO live in the jungle, "know" the land, and are usually mobile. They live in different areas, at different times of the year.

"Modern" people plop down a permanent structure, in an area that's not conducive to year-round living.

An easily forded "stream" in dry season, becomes a raging river in rainy season (my father drove our car right into the Chagres River once, when the "map" said .."drive across stream"....luckily there was a guy with some horses nearby who managed to pull us out of the river, before we got swept away :eyes:..)

[n2doc]

3. This is the time of year for lots of rain

I have been to Huanuco department in the rainy season and it is brutal. Towns get cut off for weeks. It has been really dry down there in the last few years but el Nino causes higher rains than usual. It is not unusual to get 10 feet of rain over the season.