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 by Staff Writers Bras�lia (AFP) Jan 25, 2020
At least 30 people have been killed in two days of intense storms in southeastern Brazil, the Minas Gerais state Civil Defense office said Saturday. Seventeen people are also missing, seven injured, and some 3,500 have been forced out of their homes following a series of landslides and building collapses, Civil Defense officials said. Television footage showed images of overflowing rivers, flood neighborhoods and trees and utility poles knocked over by the rushing water. Several highways have also been cut by the flooding, and scores of bridges have been knocked out. Most of the victims were killed in landslides or buried in destroyed homes. At least two children were listed among the dead. The heavy rain and flooding is also hitting the nearby states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo. Rainfall in the region has been the heaviest since records were first kept 110 years ago, the National Institute of Meteorology said. In one 24-hour period, the Minas Gerais state capital Belo Horizonte recorded 172 millimeters (almost seven inches) of rain. Forecasters said the rain is expected to taper off on Sunday, but authorities warn that the danger of landslides remains high, especially in the Belo Horizonte area. The deluge coincided with the first anniversary of the dam collapse in the Minas Gerais town of Brumadinho that killed 270 people. Eleven people are still listed as missing. An accumulation of water and a lack of drainage caused the tailings dam rupture on January 25, 2019, according to a report commissioned by the mining firm Vale.
Torrential rain kills dozens in Madagascar The tropical Indian Ocean nation is in the midst of an intense six-month rainy season that often results in casualties and widespread damage. Flooding in the districts of Mitsinjo and Maevatanana has claimed at least 26 lives since Sunday, and 15 more people are still missing and thousands have been displaced, the National Bureau of Disaster Risk Management (BNGRC) announced on Friday. Strips of road were swept away by the rains and access to affected areas has been cut off. The BNGRC warned that flooding in lowland and rice-growing areas also posed a risk of "food insecurity and malnutrition". A disruption in the supply of basic goods could also lead to surge in prices, it added. Prime Minister Christian Ntsay declared the situation a "national loss". "The government is calling on national figures and international partners to help the Malagasy people with emergency aid, early recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction," spokeswoman Lalatiana Andriatongarivo said in a statement. The rainy season usually stretches from October to April in Madagascar, a former French colony off Africa's southeastern coast. Global warming has increased the risk and intensity of flooding, as the atmosphere holds more water and rainfall patterns are disrupted. Built-up urban areas with poor drainage systems are especially vulnerable to heavy downpours, scientists say. Nine people were killed in January 2019 after heavy rains caused a building to collapse in the capital Antananarivo. During this period, the country is also often hit by cyclones and other tropical storms. Cyclone Belna landed in the northwest last month, killing at least two people and displacing hundreds.
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