At least 29 people died, during the last twenty-four hours, in the State of Pernambouc where the heavy rains, which have been falling for several days, cause landslides. The situation could worsen because the bad weather continues.
Le Monde with AP and AFP
The balance sheet continues to increase, irreparably. The heavy rains that have been falling in Brazil for several days in the region of Recife, capital of Pernambouc, left at least 29 additional dead “in the last twenty-four hours,” said the authorities of the authorities on Saturday, May 28, This state in the northeast of the country.
“From Wednesday at noon and until Saturday, 34 deaths were recorded in the state”, including 29 “during the last twenty-four hours”, says the civil defense.
In Alagoas, another state in the region, two people died after being swept away by the river floods on Friday.
The most serious accident occurred early Saturday, when 19 people perished in a “large landslide” in Jardim Monteverde, on the border between Recife and the municipality of Jaboatao Dos Guararapes. Six other people were killed in another landslide in the municipality of Camaragibe. Two died in Recife and another at Jaboatao Dos Guararapes.
“Five other deaths had already occurred during Tuesday’s storm,” said a previous press release published on Saturday by the Civil Defense, while the rains began to strike the region on the night of Tuesday 24 to Wednesday 25.
More than 1,300 displaced people
Videos published on social networks show large avenues flooded in several municipalities, collapsing houses and landslides. More than 1,300 people have lost their homes due to floods and landslides. Schools of the city of Recife have been opened to accommodate the homeless.
The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, expressed on Twitter his “condolences and his solidarity to the victims of this sad catastrophe”. He said he decided to deploy troops from the Ministry of Defense “to help rescue operations and provide the necessary assistance to disaster victims”.
– Mobilizamos ainda Nossas Frank Armadas, A @defesagovbr e o @mincidadania para o Deslocamento de teams à Grande… https://t.co/mor1a5kozs
Between Friday evening and Saturday morning, precipitation reached 236 millimeters in certain parts of the capital of Pernambouc, according to the town hall. This is equivalent to more than 70 % of precipitation forecasts for the whole month of May in the city. According to the Pernambouc water and climate agency, the situation could worsen because the rains will continue for the next twenty-four hours in the state.
already hundreds of victims During the past year
In the past year, hundreds of Brazilians have perished in floods and landslides caused by torrential rains. In February, more than 230 people had been killed in the city of Petropolis, the former capital of the Empire of Brazil in the 19th th century, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (southeast ). Strong precipitation had transformed the streets into bubbling rivers and caused landslides in valid poor neighborhoods which have almost won over their path.
Last month in the same state, fourteen people have already perished, also in floods and landslides. Among the victims were a mother and her six children, buried alive under a landslide who took their house, according to the authorities.
Because a warmer atmosphere is also more humid, global warming increases the risks and the intensity of floods caused by extreme precipitation