Floods caused by torrential rainfall in Bahia (northeast Brazil) cost the lives of two other people, increasing in 20 the report of the victims from early November in the state, where some 63,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, local authorities informed yesterday Monday.
«Ζ“Unfortunately, this is the biggest catastrophe in the history of Bahia.” summed up Hui Costa, the governor of that state of 15 million people, who has been overseeing since Saturday a joint operation in the affected areas with the federal government and forces contributing to other states.
The two new deaths were reported in the city of Itabuna. A 21-year-old man was swept away by a torrent, a 33-year-old woman was killed when a landslide occurred, according to the latest information from the local government yesterday afternoon.
“Water has begun to recede at the source of the Casoeira River and, although at a slow pace, we expect the situation to improve in the coming days,” Costa was quoted as saying by Reuters, citing Reuters and AFP.
Houses buried under water and roads rivers
Homes are under water and roads have been transformed into rivers in dozens of communities in the southern part of the state, which have been affected since Thursday by heavy rainfall, causing at least two dams to break and rivers to overflow over the weekend.
In Itapetsinga, AFP aerial photographs show three men rowing with their hands on a mattress on a street where water reaches the windows of houses around them.
The number of displaced people has almost doubled since Sunday, with 62,796 people forced to flee their homes, according to the Bahia Civil Protection.
The number of people injured in various accidents due to heavy rainfall since November has reached 358, according to the same source. In total, the victims are estimated to be 471,009.
At least 116 communities, of which 100 have been declared a state of emergency, affected by the floods.
“There is a correlation” between the intensity of the rainfall and the La Niιαa phenomenon, said Esteel Sias, a meteorologist at MetSul.
In some municipalities, the rainfall exceeded the level usually recorded throughout December – especially in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, where on Friday 58 mm of precipitation was recorded, five times the average of December, according to the Civil Protection.
According to a fire officer who spoke to the newspaper O Globo, the authorities have set under surveillance 10 dams for any indication that they might collapse.
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