Flood rescue continues
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BRAZILIAN rescuers searched yesterday for 600 people declared missing after heavy rains caused torrential flooding in two states. The death toll rose to 44 after three bodies were found overnight.
The Civil Defense department of Alagoas state said rains had subsided, giving soldiers and other rescuers the chance to reach some of the isolated towns by boat and helicopter. Heavy machinery was used to remove destroyed homes, while search dogs scoured areas where survivors or more bodies might be found.
A fire department spokeswoman in Maceio, the capital of Alagoas, said the search for the missing began at dawn, but there was no report of survivors found. She spoke on condition of anonymity, per department rules.
On Tuesday, Civil Defense officials said they believed most of the missing were safe - just unable to notify family members and others of their status because there was no electricity and phones were knocked out.
Storms dumped a month's worth of water on parts of Alagoas and neighboring Pernambuco state last week. Some small towns were nearly destroyed by the flooding, and local officials said it looked like a tsunami had hit.
In the city of Uniao dos Palmares, where 500 people are reported missing, shop owners dug mud out of the few buildings that survived.
The Civil Defense department of Alagoas state said rains had subsided, giving soldiers and other rescuers the chance to reach some of the isolated towns by boat and helicopter. Heavy machinery was used to remove destroyed homes, while search dogs scoured areas where survivors or more bodies might be found.
A fire department spokeswoman in Maceio, the capital of Alagoas, said the search for the missing began at dawn, but there was no report of survivors found. She spoke on condition of anonymity, per department rules.
On Tuesday, Civil Defense officials said they believed most of the missing were safe - just unable to notify family members and others of their status because there was no electricity and phones were knocked out.
Storms dumped a month's worth of water on parts of Alagoas and neighboring Pernambuco state last week. Some small towns were nearly destroyed by the flooding, and local officials said it looked like a tsunami had hit.
In the city of Uniao dos Palmares, where 500 people are reported missing, shop owners dug mud out of the few buildings that survived.
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