A man washes off a food cart in an alley strewn with debris and mud in the aftermath of a violent storm in the Rocinha slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Transcript:
Around the world, more than a billion people live in informal settlements. These unplanned areas are often densely packed and lack municipal services.
Ramírez-Lovering: “They’re often in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding. They have generally poor drainage, unsafe water, and all of these problems are exacerbated by often a lack of sanitation.”
That’s Diego Ramírez-Lovering of Monash University in Australia. He says when it rains, stormwater can mix with wastewater and flow into streets and homes. In many areas, the problem is getting worse as climate change brings more heavy downpours.
