Death toll from Brazil flooding rises in Bahia state's worst disaster

ITABUNA (Brazil) • The death toll from floods hammering north-east Brazil rose to 20 on Monday, as the governor of Bahia state declared this the worst disaster in the state's history and rescuers braced themselves for more rain in the coming days.

Much of Bahia, home to about 15 million people, has suffered from intermittent flooding for weeks, after a long drought gave way to record rainfall.

Flooding in some areas intensified late on Christmas Eve and early on Christmas Day after a pair of dams gave way, sending residents scrambling for higher ground.

Rescue workers patrolled in small dinghies around the city of Itabuna in southern Bahia, plucking residents from their homes, including some who escaped through second-floor windows.

Bahia Governor Rui Costa said on Twitter that 72 municipalities were in a state of emergency.

"Unfortunately, we're living through the worst disaster that has ever occurred in the history of Bahia," he wrote.

Lieutenant-colonel Manfredo Santana of Bahia's firefighting corps said that emergency workers had rescued 200 people in three nearby towns.

The heavy currents of the swollen Cachoeira River complicated rescue efforts.

"It's difficult to manoeuvre even with jet skis," he said.

"Rescue teams had to retreat in certain moments."

Bahia's civil defence agency said on Monday afternoon that 20 people had died in 11 municipalities.

Newspaper O Globo, citing an official, said that the authorities are monitoring an additional 10 dams for signs of collapse.

REUTERS