Floods in Brazil....

With a heavy heart I write this post. Heavy rains have caused major destruction in the mountains outside of Rio de Janeiro. I was just in this area a few weeks ago(see Tropical Alps post)and that same highway has been washed away.

The rain caused the headwaters of the rivers to swell to capacity and mixed with the urban sprawl, caused whole mountainsides to come crashing down. The worst towns affected are Nova Friburgo and Teresopolis.

For those of you in Brazil, the Pao de Acucar supermarket is accepting donations of clothes and bed linens. Also there is an urgent call for blood donations.

For my foreign readers, I ask that you contact your local Red Cross to find out how you can help with donations.

Here is a report from CNN