Authorities in northeastern Brazil’s Pernambuco state said on Monday that 91 people were confirmed dead from flooding over the weekend, with more than two dozen still missing.
According to an official statement, hundreds of state and federal rescuers are searching for 26 people who are not yet known.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flew over Pernambuco’s capital Recife and the affected area of neighboring Jabatao dos Guarapes on Monday. Later talking to reporters, he said that due to the wet soil, it was not possible to land in the helicopter.
He also noted that the country has recently experienced similar disasters in the mountains above Rio de Janeiro, the state of southern Bahia and the state of Minas Gerais.
“Unfortunately, these catastrophes happen in a country the size of a continent,” he said. “We are all clearly saddened. We offer our condolences to the family members. Our greater aim is to give comfort to the families and to take care of the population with material means.”
At the press conference, Regional Development Minister Daniel Ferreira said the government was moving to provide funds to municipalities that have declared a state of emergency. He also highlighted a new line of credit available for cities affected by such disasters.
Experts say climate change contributes to more intense rainfall, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has classified the metropolitan area of Recife as one of the most vulnerable cities in the world. The lower metro area lies on the delta of three rivers, has floodplains and a network of dozens of canals and is home to about 4 million people.
In March, Recife became the first Latin American city to sign up to participate in a program that would create insurance against climate disasters, created by a network of local and regional governments and financed by the German development bank KfW.
The state’s civil protection authority said in a statement that the floods had displaced 5,000 people from their homes, and strengthened its warnings about the still high risk of landslides. The rain continues, albeit with less intensity.
