Heavy Brazil floods leave 33 dead

Heavy Brazil floods leave 33 dead

A man looks for his belongings in the debris of his home after it was destroyed by a mudslide in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, on 23/11/08
There is little left of people's homes in parts of Santa Catarina

Thirty-three people are now reported to have died, with many thousands forced from their homes, following floods in Brazil's southern Santa Catarina state.

Heavy rainfall over the last two months has led to landslides which have destroyed homes and blocked roads.

Emergency workers have been using helicopters and boats to try and reach those those left stranded.

A state of emergency has been declared and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has offered federal help.

By Monday, more than 20,000 people had been forced out of their homes. Some have been able to stay with relatives and friends, while others have gone to public shelters.

In total more than a million people are said to have been affected by the flooding.

High risk building

Newspaper photographs showed streets submerged by waist-high water levels, and four towns were reported to have been cut off by the floods.

Joao Paulo Kleinubing, the mayor of Blumenau, where at least 10 people have died, said the major challenge would be supplying shelters with medicines and food.

Many of the deaths had been caused by the landslides, the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo says.

Heavy rain and flooding in Brazil have been known to lead to high death tolls in the past partly because homes are often constructed in dangerous locations that are vulnerable to landslides, he adds.

State governments have been criticised for not doing enough to stop people building in areas of high risk.

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Brazil tries to rush aid to flood victims

Nov 26, 10:22 AM (ET)
By RICARDO MORAES

NAVEGANTES, Brazil (AP) - Brazil tried to rush aid on Wednesday to 50,000 people driven from their homes by rain-spawned mudslides that have killed at least 84 people, while helicopter crews searched for families isolated by floodwaters.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was expected to sign a measure freeing up 700 million reals ($300 million) to aid the victims, many of them still without access to electricity, drinking water and food.

Silva also was scheduled to tour hard-hit Santa Catarina state, where weekend downpours dumped as much water as the area in southern Brazil usually gets in four months.

Civil defense officials said mudslides and floods had killed at least 84 people, with at least 30 others missing.

Local news media reported looting in stores and supermarkets, as well as price gouging in some areas where food was running short.

Reaching the victims was difficult because eight cities with nearly 100,000 people remained by floodwaters. Helicopters - some provided by the government, others donated by businesses - had rescued more than 1,000 people.

"The situation remains complicated," Army Lt. Col. Jose Henrique Ruffo told Globo TV. "The cities in the south still cannot be reached, it's going to take some time."

Thousands of civil defense workers, troops and police were trying to bring aid, and about 3 tons of medicine, food, water and other supplies already had been distributed.

The hardest-hit city was Blumenau, where 20 people died because of mudslides. Half of the population in the renowned tourist destination of nearly 300,000 had no electricity.

Officials said it could take days to reopen many of the region's slide-blocked highways.

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Associated Press Writer Tales Azzoni contributed to this report from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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