Host City For U.S. World Cup Opener Under Flood Emergency After Water-Logged Weekend

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/16/3449275/united-states-world-cup-natal-flooding/

BY ARI PHILLIPS JUNE 16, 2014

The World Cup is an opportunity to set aside international differences, put pressing issues on hold, and let the global game take center stage for a month. However, when the U.S. kicks off their World Cup opener this evening there will be another factor on the pitch to consider besides their archenemy Ghana: the weather.

Natal, the coastal city of about one million people in northeastern Brazil where the U.S. is playing, suffered two days of non-stop rain starting on Friday totaling more than 13 inches — nine inches fell during a 24-hour deluge between Saturday and Sunday morning. Average rainfall for June is just over eight inches. The city declared a state of emergency on Sunday after flooded streets and landslides destroyed or damaged dozens of residences and forced at least 50 evacuations.

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While flooding is not uncommon in Brazil, climate change is expected to push the extremes of rainfall and drought beyond historical norms.

“Although severe weather events such as drought and floods have happened in the past, their frequency and intensity has increased,” Dr. Jose Marengo, Senior Scientist at the Earth System Science Center at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, recently told WKYC. “Between 2005 and 2013, the Amazon experienced two very extreme droughts and three extreme floods, the frequency of which is unusual.”