After storms and torrential rains claimed the lives of at least twenty people, rescuers in boats and aeroplanes sprinted against the time on Sunday to reach isolated residents of Brazil’s hilly southeast.
Authorities in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo reported a chaotic scenario of flooding as result of rainfall,which continued on Sunday with more rain anticipated.
As rescuers made progress on Sunday,the death toll increased from four to twelve.
The town of Mimoso do Sul, which has around 25,000 residents and is located south of Espirito Santo, is the most severely hit and at least ten people have perished there.
Officials fear that the death toll from flooding may rise.
Renato Casagrande,the governor of the state,called the situation”chaotic” expressing concern that the death toll may yet rise because it has not been possible to evaluate damage in some of the more remote locations this far.
Officials said that landslides have killed at least eight persons in the neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro
In the city of Petropolis,70 kilometres inland from the capital,a house collapsed due to the storm resulting to four deaths in Rio State.
A girl who had been buried for over 16 hours was found by search personnel.Her father”heroically protected the girl with his body,”a neighbour told AFP,before he was discovered dead.
The deluge occurred after a recent spate of extreme weather occurrences in Brazil, the largest country in South America.
Experts attribute these storms to climate change.
