Brazil
death toll rises as rescuers battle floods
January
14, 2011 6:17:11 AM
Source News Feed: Reuters World Service
* Death toll likely to top 500, more
rain expected
* Rescuers try to reach isolated
areas
* President Rousseff visits region,
promises help
* Soy, sugar cane and coffee crops
not affected
By Sergio Queiroz and Stuart
Grudgings
TERESOPOLIS, Brazil, Jan 14
(Reuters) - Rescue workers in Brazil braced for more rain on Friday as they
struggled to reach areas cut off by massive floods and landslides that look
certain to have killed more than 500 people.
In one of the country's worst
natural disasters, rivers of mud tore through towns in the mountainous Serrana
region outside Rio de Janeiro, leveling houses, throwing cars atop buildings
and stranding thousands of residents.
"What happened here is absurd.
It looks like the war in Vietnam," said Albertino Lazaro, 54, who took
shelter in a gymnasium set up to house displaced families in the town of
Teresopolis, where at least 223 people were killed.
"It's a lot better than being
out there in the mud," he said of the shelter as children played soccer
among families sleeping on mattresses.
The death toll was 495 people, according
to official tallies late on Thursday, but rescuers had yet to reach some of the
worst-hit parts of Teresopolis, including one neighborhood where around 150
houses were believed to have been destroyed.
More than 13,500 people have been
left homeless.
The flooding likely caused billions
of dollars in damage and has presented President Dilma Rousseff with her first
crisis only two weeks after she took office.
Beyond the loss of life and
property, the damage from the rains could further boost food prices in parts of
southeastern Brazil, a major concern for the government.
The Serrana region is an important
producer of fruit and vegetables for the Rio area but the floods have not
affected Brazil's main crops such as soy, sugar cane, oranges and coffee.
Rio, famed for its beaches and
Carnival, will co-host soccer's World Cup in 2014 and host the Olympics in
2016.
"WE CAN'T STOP"
In Teresopolis, bodies had to be
taken to a nearby church after the town's morgue filled up. Officials showed
pictures of the corpses to residents to identify family members.
In Nova Friburgo, a rural town first
settled by Swiss immigrants, at least 214 people died. In Petropolis, once the
summer residence for Brazil's royal family, 40 people were killed, while at
least 18 died in Sumidoro.
Rousseff, who has earmarked 780
million reais ($460 million) in emergency aid, briefly visited the region to
meet local officials. The government said it was sending 210 members of the
National Public Security Force to help identify bodies.
Hillsides and riverbanks in the
area, about 60 miles (100 km) north of Rio, collapsed after the equivalent of a
month's rain fell in 24 hours from Tuesday night.
Rescuers worked to haul people from
raging floodwaters and combed ruined homes for survivors, often finding only
corpses.
But a 6-month-old baby was rescued
from the rubble of a house, drawing thunderous cheers from residents.
One woman held a dog in the ruins of
her house as surging water tore at the remaining walls. She grabbed a rope
thrown from a nearby rooftop and was pulled to safety but had to drop the dog
into the vicious current.
"The situation is critical but
we have to advance. We can't stop," said fire department colonel Jose
Paulo Miranda.
Landslides and flash floods are
common in much of Brazil, often exposing poor planning and a lack of preventive
action by authorities.
Rousseff told reporters that
construction of housing in high-risk areas is "the rule in Brazil rather
than the exception," adding the lack of adequate housing policy
contributed to the problem. (Additional reporting by Pedro Fonseca, Eduardo
Simoes and Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by John
O'Callaghan)
No comments:
Post a Comment