Severe flooding hits Peru and Brazil
photo by Luke Robinson (source: Flickr Creative Commons)
The heaviest rains in 15 years have caused flooding in Peru, including the site of the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. The floods, as stated by Australia’s Herald Sun, stranded some 1,500 tourists, many of whom had to be airlifted. Among the stranded were significant numbers of tourists from Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Brazil, which is experiencing some severe flooding of its own. 64 have died due to flooding in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, according to a report by China’s Xinhua News Agency.
In addition to the tragedy surrounding the floods, rescue operations in Peru are bordering on becoming international incidents. Media reports have suggested that China is planning to evacuate stranded Taiwanese tourists, according to a report from Channel NewsAsia. On the opposite side of the coin The London Times reported a bit of ugly news concerning the flooding: a local tour guide has claimed that some wealthier tourists were paying as much as $500/£300/ €360 for a place on one of the rescue helicopters.
Watch this brief msnbc video report for an overview of the situation in Peru:
Msnbc – Floods ravage Peru, strand tourists
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With all the international media attention being given to foreign tourists, one has to wonder about the plight of the local people in Peru. For more dramatic footage of the flooding in Peru and Brazil including local voices, click on the below link to view a video from Reuters:
Reuters – Floods continue in Brazil and Peru
by Graham Land
Additional resources:
CNN video – Tourists still stranded at Machu Picchu
BBC News – Peru flooding: Your stories
Graham Land grew up in Washington, D.C., where he was part of the local hardcore punk scene. Through this unique musical movement he became involved in grass roots anti-racist activism, animal rights and Ecology. Since 2000 Graham has lived in Europe, earning an MA in history from Malmö University in Sweden and working as a musician, English teacher, sports therapist, customer service agent and writer. Graham has a podcast with author Saci Lloyd and is currently pretending to work on his first novel.
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Tags: australia, Brazil, China, flooding, floods, Machu Picchu, Peru, Reuters, stranded, tourists
Thanks for your comment, Amy. Great site/project and beautiful pictures. The people of Peru seem to be on the forefront of many issues relating to the environment, as poor and indigenous peoples often are.
http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/01/05/poor-indigenous-are-chief-victims-of-climate-change-–-peru/
I hope all the tourists that are stranded will be patient and will be evacuated soon. I feel most for the people who live there that will be rebuilding their lives and their homes once all the tourists are evacuated. The marginalized people in all areas of Peru have a difficult time.
To know more about everyday indigenous life in the remote Peruvian Amazon, please visit ninosdelaamazonia.org
You will see amazing photos ALL taken by the indigenous children.
You will have the opportunity to help a child if you so desire.