Entire towns under water, roads cut off by landslides, inhabitants who lose everything, sometimes their lives: the State of Bahia, in eastern Brazil, has been hit for several weeks by torrential rains, whose material and human toll continues to increase. Already critical, the situation worsened further this weekend, and the number of municipalities in an emergency situation rose to 72, announced the state civil protection (Sudec).
During search and rescue operations, firefighters discovered the body of a man in his sixties, found drowned in a river in the town of Aurelino Leal. This brings the number of deaths recorded since early November in the region to 18. At least two people are still missing and nearly 300 have been injured.
“A gigantic tragedy”
After flying over the disaster areas by helicopter on Sunday morning, the governor of the State of Bahia, Rui Costa, said he was stunned by the extent of the damage: “It’s a gigantic tragedy. I do not remember anything of this dimension in the recent history of Bahia. The number of houses, streets and towns completely underwater is truly terrifying ”, did he declare.
In local media images, muddy water can be seen flooding the first floors of buildings in the town of Itabuna. More than 400,000 people are estimated to have been affected by the rains, of which around 35,000 were forced from their homes by the disaster, forced to improvise their movements using makeshift rafts and inflatable canoes. Among them, around 16,000 have requested temporary shelter, according to Sudec. According to the Associated Press, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced financial assistance for families who have lost their homes.
With the power of the rivers, swollen by the storms, two dams of Bahia gave way. According to the minister of infrastructure of this state, 25 roads have been cut off due to flooding and landslides. To come to the aid of the thousands of victims, a joint operation between the federal state and that of Bahia was launched on Saturday. It mobilizes personnel, helicopters and emergency equipment, with the support of other States.
Deadly Typhoon in the Philippines
The subtropical cyclone hitting the state of Bahia formed in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Brazilian coast. According to the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming plays a central role in the increasingly late onset of these climatic phenomena which usually occur between June and October .
With the rise in temperatures, the weather conditions conducive to cyclones would again be met in winter, and the cases would continue to multiply, underline the experts of the IPCC: “Maximum wind speeds of the most intense tropical cyclones will increase globally with global warming.”
About ten days ago, Typhoon Rai, also late and one of the most powerful to hit Asia in recent years, sowed death and devastation in the central and southern Philippines. A report on Monday reported at least 388 dead, hundreds injured and at least 60 missing. At least 140 people have also fallen ill from possibly contaminated water, fueling fears of a possible epidemic in some of the stricken areas.