At least 35 people have died during heavy rains in northeastern Brazil on Friday and Saturday, as torrential rains hit two major cities along the Atlantic coast, the fourth major flood in South America in five months.In the province of Pernambuco, at least 33 people have been killed since Saturday afternoon, as torrential rains caused landslides that devastated urban areas, according to an official Twitter account. Another 765 people have been forced to leave their homes, at least temporarily, according to the state government. Authorities in the neighboring province of Alagoas have registered two dead people, according to Brazilian paramedics.
In late December and early January, dozens died and tens of thousands were left stranded in the rainy season in Bahia, northeastern Brazil. At least 18 people died in floods in southeastern Sao Paulo later in January. In February, heavy rains in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro killed more than 230 people. Although much of Brazil spent most of 2021 of the worst drought, torrential rains began to fall in the final months of the year.
The ensuing catastrophic floods have sparked a debate about the potential role of climate change in Brazil’s changing climate and focused attention on the country’s unorganized urban planning.Most of the deaths on Friday and Saturday took place in the provincial capital of Pernambuco Recife. As in many of Brazil’s urban areas, most of Recife’s neighborhoods are located in areas prone to landslides and mudslides.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was assembling a delegation to work in Pernambuco on Saturday, according to local media.His main rival in the October presidential election, left-wing Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, lamented the floods on Twitter.”My unity in the families of the city of Recife, which is experiencing heavy rains,” he wrote.
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