Most of the victims were killed in landslides or buried in destroyed homes. At least two children were listed among the dead.
(Photo: IANS)
At least 30 people were killed and several reportedly missing due to heavy rains that lashed the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, according to authorities on Saturday.
In addition to the deaths, seven people were injured, 2,590 were forced to evacuate, and 911 were sheltered.
According to Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology, Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, registered 171.8 mm of rainfall over the course of 24 hours on Friday, the highest recorded precipitation in the area in 110 years.
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Most of the victims were killed in landslides or buried in destroyed homes. At least two children were listed among the dead.
The heavy rain and flooding is also hitting the nearby states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo.
Rainfall in the region has been the heaviest since records were first kept 110 years ago, the National Institute of Meteorology said. In one 24-hour period, the Minas Gerais state capital Belo Horizonte recorded 172 millimeters (almost seven inches) of rain.
The weather forecasters said that the rain is expected to taper off on Sunday, but authorities warn that the danger of landslides remains high, especially in the Belo Horizonte area.
The deluge coincided with the first anniversary of the dam collapse in the Minas Gerais town of Brumadinho that killed 270 people. Eleven people are still listed as missing.
An accumulation of water and a lack of drainage caused the tailings dam rupture on January 25, 2019, according to a report commissioned by the mining firm Vale.
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