Climate change comes to Teófilo Otoni -- How to make donations for flood victims

Here is my translation of the news story in the post below this one:

"Yesterday afternoon, a storm with extremely strong winds and hail caused damage in the city of Teófilo Otoni, in the Muruci Valley, Minas Gerais state. According to the Minas State Civil Defense Coordinating Office (Cedec), a daycare center and six houses had tiles ripped off their roofs. A tree fell on some wires and caused damage to the electrical system. The southern zone of the municipality had no electricity for a few hours. There were no reports of injuries.

Persons who had to leave their homes were put up by friends and family. Cedec is still adding up the damage caused by the storm. It is not yet known if additional support in the form of food packets will be necessary for the families affected.

Since the rainy season began in September 2008, approximately 113,300 people have been displaced and 1,540 have been made homeless in Minas Gerais state."

OK, so what is the big deal about a storm with strong winds and hail?

A single bad storm cannot be attributed to global warming. But according the the Brazilian weather service, the number of lightning strikes per year has doubled in the last 4 years.

I can attest to that. When I first moved here, 12 years ago, from my home in tornado alley, I was amazed at how quiet the storms were. The rain came, lots of it fell, but there was no thunder and lightning. I actually missed it. In the last two years especially, we see lightning here with almost every storm that comes through. It is a very noticeable change.

I was surprised to read just now that 113,300 people had been affected in Minas Gerais since last September. I knew that it had rained a lot, but I had thought that the main problem was in the north and northeast of Brazil, where there are more than 400,000 displaced and many homeless people -- many have been cut off from the basic necessities for two months. Up in the Amazon region, there is very little in the way of potable water, food, medicines, medical care, electricity, and just about anything else you might need. If you would like to make a donation, in this case I recommend the Catholic charity called Caritas because they have people on the ground in every community and the money cannot be diverted by the local politicians.

Please see my other blog for instructions:

Japanese & American donate to Caritas International for the flood victims in northern and northeastern Brazil -- Learn how!

Caritas - the charitable arm of the Catholic Church - is appealing for contributions to provide assistance to flooded areas in northeastern Brazil

If you are Brazilian and want to make a transfer to a bank account here in Brazil, this is the link to the list of accounts to make donations to the Red Cross:

Cruz Vermelha do Brasil: Como fazer doações p/ os atingidos das enchentes do Norte e Nordeste