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Landslides and floods kill dozens in Brazil

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  • Landslides and floods kill dozens in Brazil.
  • More than 1,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
  • Around 32,000 families lived in at-risk areas.

Avalanches caused by rains killed at least 29 people in the state of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil, authorities reported on Saturday. Meanwhile, in the state of Alagoas, also in the region, two people were killed when they were swept away by a flood on Friday, according to 20 minutos and the AP.

More than 1,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to flooding in Pernambuco, civil defense authorities said on Twitter. The executive secretary of the civil defense agency in the state, Lt. Col. Leonardo Rodrigues, said in a video on Instagram that some 32,000 families lived in areas at risk of flooding or landslides in the state.

WHERE DID THE EVACUEES GO?

Avalanches flooding dead Brazil
AP Photo

Schools in the city of Recife opened their doors to shelter people who had to leave their homes. In Alagoas, the state government said that 33 municipalities have declared a state of emergency due to the effects of the downpours in recent days.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Twitter that crews from the Ministry of Regional Development and elements of the Armed Forces will be sent to Pernambuco and Alagoas to provide «relief and humanitarian aid.»

HAS THIS HAPPENED BEFORE?

rainy evictions
AP Photo

For the second year in a row, the residents of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest are overwhelmed by floods, and hundreds of thousands of people have already been affected by rising water levels. The heavy rains that have fallen in the Amazon in the last two years are associated with the La Niña phenomenon, which occurs when the currents of the Pacific Ocean affect global weather patterns. Scientists say this is intensified by climate change.

In Manaus, the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon, flood levels have been tracked since 1902. In the last decade there have been seven of the worst floods, including this year’s, residents and authorities are raising the alarm. Filed Under: Avalanches Floods Dead Brazil

IMMINENT DANGER?

Avalanches flooding dead Brazil
AP Photo

«Unfortunately, severe flooding has been happening repeatedly in the last decade,» Luna Gripp, a geoscience researcher who monitors river levels in the western Amazon for the Geological Survey of the United States, told The Associated Press in a text message. «It is confirmation that extreme weather events are on the rise.»

In the Brazilian state of Amazonas alone, an estimated 367,000 people were affected by the rising waters, according to the state’s civil defense authority. The Negro River reached a depth of 29.37 meters (96 feet) on Monday at the Manaus measurement station, compared with a record 30.02 meters (98 feet) recorded last year.

THIS SEEMS LIKE IT WILL NEVER END

rainy evictions
AP Photo

“Last year I faced a flood, and now I am dealing with the 2022 flood,” said Raimundo Reis, a fisherman who lives with his son in Iranduba, a city across from Manaus, on the other side of the Negro River. He uses wooden boards to improvise a raised floor inside his house to stay above the water.

Flooding in Manaus typically peaks in mid-June, taking weeks — sometimes months — to subside. The floods cause significant damage to agriculture, which is traditionally located in the Amazon near the riverbanks, where the soil is more fertile, the head of the state’s civil defense authority, Charlis Barros, told the AP by phone. That makes food distribution one of the most urgent needs right now, he noted.

The post Landslides and floods leave dozens dead in Brazil appeared first on Mundo Hispánico.

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