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“We are experiencing the worst disaster in the history of Bahia,” said the state governor.
At least 20 people have been killed in floods in northeastern Brazil, local authorities said Monday, saying the region was ready for more rain.
About 15 million people live in the last two days, with constant flooding in the state of Bahia, following the collapse of a couple of dams, confusing neighbors.
“Unfortunately, we are experiencing the worst disaster in Bahia’s history,” Governor Rui Costa said on Twitter on Monday, adding that 72 municipalities in Bahia are in a state of emergency.
Rescue teams are trying to transport supplies and provide medical care to the victims, the governor also said, but damage to bridges and highways has hampered those efforts.
The two dams that fell over the weekend were in the cities of Jussiape and Itambe.
Rescue workers are patrolling small boats around the city of Itabuna, evicting neighbors from their homes, including some who escaped from second-floor windows.
Manfredo Santana, a spokesman for the Bahia fire brigade, told Reuters on Monday that emergency workers had rescued 200 people in three towns. Large currents in the swollen Cachoeira River made rescue work difficult.
“It’s hard to maneuver even with motorcycle skis,” he said. “At some point, rescue teams had to retreat.”
The Bahia Civil Defense Agency said Monday afternoon that 20 people had been killed in floods in 11 municipalities.
The state government said a day earlier that the floods had left more than 16,000 people homeless.
In a televised statement, Costa blamed the chaotic scene for “mistakes made over the years.”
The O Globo newspaper, citing a state fire official, reported that authorities are monitoring 10 more dams to see any signs of falling.
The study of public infrastructure and urban planning comes in a few years the fall of a mining dam about 270 people were killed in the nearby state of Minas Gerais.
A government task force made up of military firefighters and police has been set up to help respond to the disaster in serious areas of Bahia.
In the state capital of El Salvador, weather officials said December rainfall was six times higher than average.
Heavy rainfall coincides La Nina, a meteorological phenomenon that usually occurs every three to five years and is cooler than normal in the Pacific Ocean.
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