Brazilian city of 70,000 people is set to be SWALLOWED by the earth due to de-forestation
A city of 73,000 in Brazil is about to be swallowed up by the Earth as it battles with its environment.
Buriticupu, in the northeast of the country, is facing an existential gully problem exacerbated by deforestation.
Huge craters up to 70 meters deep and landslides threaten to wipe out the city within 30 to 40 years.
There are now 26 gullies over 298 meters long, formed by years of deforestation in and around the city – and ‘unplanned urban sprawl’ into the natural world.
Clearing can weaken the soil below, making it difficult for the soil to absorb excess water and causing surface water to concentrate and erode land, which can create massive craters over time.
This year, heavy rainfall has made the situation all the more devastating, with authorities forced to declare a state of ‘public doom’.
Aerial view of erosions in Buriticupu, State of Maranhao, Brazil, taken on April 21, 2023. The 26 gullies are more than 300 meters long
The craters can be seen coming so close to the edge of the city. More than 50 homes have been swallowed up in the past decade
The phenomenon, photographed April 21, is caused by a lack of urban planning and aggressive deforestation, experts say
The town hall declared a state of emergency on April 26 as it searches for a solution for houses engulfed by holes
Authorities warn that more preventive measures must be taken to prevent the canyons from developing and threatening the city
A lack of urban planning has exacerbated the underlying problem since the city’s founding in 1994.
Only a few civil defense workers are on hand to monitor the growth of the holes – known as voçorocas – and plan for families to be relocated.
Mayor Joao Carlos described the situation as “complex” and said it “has to do with offsetting properties, building new housing complexes, sewerage.”
An expert in the study of holes from the local university, Augusto Carvalho Campos, said to 20 Minutes that soil erosion got much worse due to ‘unplanned urban sprawl with a faulty water treatment system’.
In the past 10 years, three streets and more than 50 houses have been engulfed by one gully alone.
Have seven people Reportedly died from falling into holes in the past 20 years.
The region is also hit hard by deforestation; between 2000 and 2020, Buriticupu suffered a loss of 41% from its tree cover. Between 2002 and 2021, more than half of the moist primary forest will have been felled.
Authorities issued 687,000 R$ (£109,505) for helping families who have to leave their homes.
But less has been done to halt the trend of climate destruction.
Celio Roberto of the Maranhao Fire Department told local media: “The intervention must be both emergency and preventive.
“Otherwise we will have this process more and more and more and more damage to the families that live there.”
The town hall declared the state of general disaster on April 26, five days after these images were taken.
It hopes to get money from the municipality to start containment work.
Deforestation in Brazil has made it more difficult for the Amazon rainforest to recover from droughts, fires and landslides.
The problem only gets worse, with one area five times the size of New York City cleared in the first six months of last year – the highest figure in six years.
The gullies in Buriticupu started out as cracks in the ground caused by rainwater, but over time developed into huge craters.
Without trees to reinforce the soil and bind the soil layer at the top, ‘run-off’ surface water will continue to collect in vulnerable areas, eroding the surrounding soil.
Huge holes are believed to have claimed the lives of seven people in Buriticupu, Maranhão state, Brazil over the past 20 years
The city of 70,000 is suffering from the rise of “vocorocas” – “torn earth” in the Tupi-Guarani indigenous language
Erosions that started as small cracks in the ground and after years of rain have grown into large craters
Mayor Joao Carlos Teixeira da Silva points to an erosion in Buriticupu, Maranhao state, Brazil, on April 21, 2023
Between 2000 and 2020, Buriticupu experienced a loss of 41% of its tree cover, a contributing factor to the problem
On Tuesday, a retired police officer suffered fractures after a fall in one of the trenches.
According to witnesses, Jose Ribamar Silveira and his car fell into the hole from a height of about 80 meters.
Silveira fell into the hole in the early hours of the morning but could not be rescued until the evening.
He was taken to an emergency room with a broken arm, an exposed fracture in his left foot and other injuries and later transferred to a hospital in Sao Luis.