Heavy rainfall in Brazil's north-east kills at least 35

RIO DE JANEIRO • At least 35 people died amid heavy rainfall in north-eastern Brazil last Friday and Saturday, as downpours lashed two major cities on the Atlantic coast, in what is the South American nation's fourth major flooding event in five months.

In the state of Pernambuco, at least 33 people had died as at Saturday afternoon, as rains provoked landslides that wiped away hillside urban neighbourhoods. Another 765 people were forced to leave their homes, at least temporarily.

In late December and early January, dozens were killed and tens of thousands displaced when rains hammered Bahia state, also located in north-eastern Brazil.

While much of Brazil spent most of last year in a severe drought, unusually intense rains started to arrive in the final months of the year.

The often-deadly flooding that followed has provoked debate over the potential role of climate change in Brazil's volatile weather pattern and has focused attention on the nation's often-haphazard urban planning.

Many of the deaths last Friday and Saturday occurred in Pernambuco's state capital Recife. As in many urban areas in Brazil, many of Recife's neighbourhoods have been built in locations vulnerable to land and mudslides.

President Jair Bolsonaro expressed his "sorrow and solidarity to the victims of this sad disaster" in a post on Twitter, and said his government will do everything possible "to alleviate the suffering". Teams from the armed forces and the defence ministry are being deployed "to assist in relief operations and provide the necessary aid to affected families", he added.

Experts say that because a hotter atmosphere holds more water, global warming increases the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE