Apocalyptic Brazil Flood: Thousands Flee From World Cup Host City

Brazil
June 10, 2014

Epoch Times

Floods have killed nine people and driven tens of thousands of people from their homes while swelling rivers to record levels in southern Brazil and neighboring Paraguay and Argentina, authorities said Tuesday, but so far they have not affected preparations for soccer’s World Cup.

The civil defense department in Brazil’s Parana state said that 132 cities have been flooded there, including the state capital of Curitiba that will host four World Cup games.

It said 13,000 people have been forced to evacuate due to torrential rains upstream.

This aerial photo released by the Iguazu National Park, shows the Iguazu Falls in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, Monday, June 9, 2014. (AP)

Curitiba City Hall spokesman Alvaro Borba said the Arena da Baixada stadium, the training center, hotels and tourist sites are nowhere near the Borigui river that overflowed its banks.

He said the Spanish national team has been training normally and forecasters said rains are not expected when the stadium hosts its first Cup encounter on June 16, when Iran meets Nigeria.

Homes are surrounded by floodwater in the Cateura neighborhood, seen from Lambare Hill in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, June 10, 2014. (AP)

Other teams playing in the city are Iran, Honduras, Ecuador, Australia, Algeria and Russia.

The torrential rainfalls of recent days also have caused widespread flooding in Argentina and Paraguay, where officials said about 100,000 people had been forced to evacuate.

The Iguazu and Parana rivers that Brazil shares with Paraguay and Argentina rose to historic levels, forcing authorities to open two major hydroelectric dams above the world-renowned Iguazu Falls, where the water flow increased nearly 30-fold, from 1,500 cubic meters per second to 43,000 meters per second, topping the previous record of 36,000 set in 1992.