Global Floods Update – Brazil
Posted by feww on January 16, 2011
600+ Lives Claimed by Brazil Floods
Entire villages are washed away in Brazil’s worst floods in 50 years, as rivers of mud cut off towns
The towns of Nova Friburgo, Petropolis, Teresopolis and the municipality of Sumidouro in southeastern Brazil are turned into disaster zones as local morgues are filled to capacity with corpses of victims claimed by the floods and mudslides, reports say.
A church is destroyed by a landslide in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro state, as the “Pope prays for the victims,” January 14, 2011. Image credit: Reuters/Bruno Domingos. Image may be subject to copyright. More images…
The worst hit area is Nova Friburgo, with at least 274 people killed. Teresopolis located WSW, has reported a death toll of at least 263, and 55 people have been killed the nearby city of Petropolis. Floods have also claimed 18 lives in the small Rio de Janeiro municipality of Sumidouro, the authorities said.
An aerial view of a landslides near in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Image credit: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.
Nova Friburgo (population: 180,000; Elevation: 846m) located in the mountains northeast of Rio de Janeiro has plunged into darkness, and the mayor of Teresopolis (Population: 150,000; Elevation: 871m) has declared a state of emergency in the city.
“The torrent of earth and water swept like a tsunami through mostly poor communities, smashing houses and killing whole families as they slept. Some corpses in Teresopolis were found several miles away from their houses.” Said a report.
More than 15,000 people have already been left homeless by the floods that are said to be Brazil’s worst in nearly half a century.
The torrential rain that began on Monday was forecast to continue for at least another week, increasing the scale of the disaster in the region.
Dozens, possibly hundreds of people are missing, as washed-out roads hamper rescue operations.
“Rescue workers fear the number of dead will continue to rise as they reach areas which have been without communication since the rains started at the beginning of the week,” a report said.
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E. Davis said
As if the number of victims from the flood hit wasn’t enough, the count is rising because of secondary sources as well.
I sincerely hope that casualties will be kept to a minimum.
[Moderator’s Note: Three people are known to have contracted leptospirosis, an infectious bacterial disease, which is caused by exposure to water contaminated with rats’ urine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12263166 ]