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Better planning might have limited flood damage in Brazil. But would it have been enough?

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A man walks through the rubble of a street and cars destroyed by heavy rains in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. Heavy rains devastated the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, causing destructive flooding and landslides. (AP Photo/Gustavo Andrade)

Historic rainfall in southeastern Brazil has created deadly floods and widespread destruction in a region that was experimenting with “more progressive” planning and zoning policies than most, says Northeastern political science professor Thomas Vicino, who studies metropolitan development and housing in Brazil.

Had they been fully realized, could those policies have reduced some of the destruction in Belo Horizonte wrought by the storms?

Read the full story at News@Northeastern.

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