Floods in Brazil: there are already 100 dead in Recife and other victims are looking for under the mud

The number of videos circulating on social networks continues to grow. In one of them, a young woman films, through a window, the hill behind her house when an avalanche engulfs the houses located a few meters away, in the city of Recife, in northeastern Brazil. Desperate, she screams, not leaving the place, as at least three houses disappear under the mud in seconds.

The death toll rises to 100 after the torrential rains of recent days in that regionLocal authorities reported on Tuesday, who continue to search for 14 missing people, amidst the desolation and despair of the inhabitants.

“There are 100 confirmed deaths in the state of Pernambuco due to landslides and rains recorded since last Wednesday” and 14 missing persons “identified”, the Social Defense Secretary of the Pernambuco government said in a statement.

With the help of “dogs and detector planes,” more than 400 firefighters continued to search for the missing, most of them buried under the mud that swept entire neighborhoods in the metropolitan region of Recife, the state’s capital.

Several neighbors, in neighborhoods located in flatter areas, immortalize in the videos recorded from their balconies when its streets turn into rivers that drag cars and everything in their path.

In some images you can see men and women with water up to their knees or waist, trying to cross the streets.

Visit by the President

The images are not unprecedented, as recalled by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who toured the area on Monday.

“We had similar problems in Petrópolis, in the south of Bahia and in the north of Minas. I also went to Acre last year. Unfortunately, these catastrophes happen, a mainland country has its own problems,” said the head of state. .

“Obviously we are sad, we express our pain to the relatives. The main goal is to comfort the relatives and help the population with material means”, he added.

Bolsonaro flew over the area affected by torrential rain on Monday afternoon. The head of state said he could not land in the region for security reasons.

“I also tried to land, but the pilots’ recommendation was that, given the inconsistency of the terrain, we could have had an accident. So we decided not to land,” Bolsonaro said at a press conference with a delegation of ministers in Recife. .

The catastrophe has great repercussions in the international press, which broadcast images from the sky and of rescue teams in search of survivors.

At least 24 municipalities in the state have declared an emergency situation due to the damage, which have left more than 6,000 homeless or displaced and extensive damage to infrastructure.

The rains started in the middle of last week, but intensified over the weekend.

The forecast is that the rains will reduce their intensity, but will continue during the week, which hinders the work of rescuing corpses and objects that people want to remove from rubble and mud, but due to the imminent risk of new landslides they have been prevented from doing so.

Source: RFI and AFP