At least 29 people have died “in the last 24 hours” due to the heavy rains that have hit the metropolitan region of Recife, capital of Pernambuco, since Tuesday, totaling 34 since the rains began last Tuesday night, authorities reported. of that state in northeastern Brazil.
“In the last 24 hours, 29 deaths were registered,” Civil Defense reported in a statement.
The most dramatic event occurred in the early hours of the morning, when 19 people died in a “great landslide” in the Jardim Monteverde community, on the border between Recife and the municipality of Jaboatao dos Guararapes, the AFP agency said.
Another six lost their lives in another landslide in the municipality of Camaragibe. Two died in Recife and another in Jaboatao dos Guararapes.
In this way, there are 34 deaths “in the state” since the rains began to hit that region on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
The Central de Operações da Codecipe received two municipalities or registered 516 evicted people and 249 homeless. Unfortunately, it was also registered as the death of 33 non-State people.
— Government of Pernambuco (@governope) May 28, 2022
“Five other deaths had already occurred in Tuesday’s storm,” the statement said, without giving further details.
According to the local press, of the remaining five, four were in Olindathree buried by landslides and one after falling into a canal.
The intense rains also left almost a thousand people displaced from their homes, due to floods and landslides.
The President Jair Bolsonaro He expressed on Twitter his “condolences and solidarity to the victims of that sad disaster” and said that his government will do everything possible “to alleviate that pain.”
Look for safe locations and protect yourself
By virtue of the chuvas fortes that assolam the State, the Civil Defense recommends that you avoid unnecessary displacements throughout this weekend. A forecast is more chuvas ao longo da afternoon from this Saturday (28) and Sunday (29) pic.twitter.com/Vj55oObt5N
— Government of Pernambuco (@governope) May 28, 2022
And he said that he decided to deploy teams from the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Citizenship “to assist in relief operations and provide the necessary assistance to the affected families.”
Videos uploaded to social networks show wide avenues flooded in several municipalities, houses collapsing and hills falling.
Recife, how sad, the chuva punishes our state of Pernambuco, I tied now 33 deaths. pic.twitter.com/9OKCEYAaaT
— Charles 13 (@charlesregolima) May 28, 2022
Between Friday night and Saturday morning, the volume of rains reached 236 millimeters in some points of the Pernambuco capital, according to the mayor’s office.
This is equivalent to more than 70% of the forecast for the entire month of May in the city.
According to the Pernambuco Water and Climate Agency, the situation could worsen as the rains will continue for the next 24 hours in the state.
– We are attentive to the cool forts that reach Pernambuco and other states of our Northeast. Determine the year @mdregional_br or uninterrupted monitoring of the situation, such as the dispatch of teams to provide or necessary assistance to the local authorities or help the affected regions.
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) May 28, 2022
The governor of Pernambuco, Paulo Cámara, flew over the affected region, in which some 1,200 troops from various bodies work, with the help of “three helicopters, boats and heavy vehicles.”
According to meteorologist Estael Sias, from the MetSul agency, the intense rains that affect Pernambuco and, to a lesser extent, four other northeastern states, are the product of a phenomenon typical of this season, the so-called “eastern waves”, areas of “atmospheric disturbance” that move from the African continent to that Brazilian coastal region.
The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) maintains for tomorrow a “red alert” for Pernambucothe maximum risk of flooding and landslides in the face of “high levels of rain” forecast for the next few hours.
Alert of more chuva this Sunday (29)
According to information from APAC, a weather forecast for Saturday night (28) indicates continuity of the rains with strong intensity until dawn in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Mata Norte and Mata Sul. pic.twitter.com/hOGx3v67cQ
— Government of Pernambuco (@governope) May 28, 2022
