Thursday, November 27, 2008

Torrential rain continues to lash southern Brazil ( BBC)

Torrential rain continues to lash southern Brazil by Tomasz Schafernaker

More than 1.5 million people across Brazil have now been affected by some of the worst flooding in history over the past two months. Torrential rain and landslides have let to the displacement of over 50,000 people across the south of the country.

One of the hardest hit regions is the southern state of Santa Catarina, where six areas have been declared in a state of emergency. As many as 100,000 people still remain trapped after heavy rain led to widespread flooding and landslides. According to the state’s governor the region faces ‘the worst weather tragedy’ in history, with nearly 80% of the area still under water.

There appears to be little respite through the rest of this week, with another active weather front forecast to pass over Brazil in the next 24 hours. This will bring further torrential downpours and strong winds to much of the country.