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Floods in the Brazilian state of Bahia
Photo: CAMILA SOUZA / AFP
After weeks of heavy rain, two dams broke in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia over the weekend. This was announced by the administrations of the affected communities. Using social media, they called on the residents around the dams to get to safety. After long, heavy rain, more than 30 places in Bahia were under water on Sunday, according to the governor. People would be saved with helicopters and boats, wrote Governor Rui Costa on Sunday on Twitter: "Saving lives is a priority at the moment."
The Igua dam on the Verruga River near the town of Vitoria da Conquista in southern Bahia collapsed on Saturday night, forcing authorities to evacuate residents, especially in the town of Itambe.
A second dam broke in Jussiape on Sunday morning.
There, too, the residents were asked to get to safety.
400,000 people affected
Bahia Governor Rui Costa also said at least 400,000 people have been affected by the heavy rains and thousands have been evacuated from 67 cities.
Many are in an emergency due to the flooding caused by the heavy rains for almost two months.
This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
"Thousands of people had to leave their homes because the water has risen a meter or two, in some places even three meters," he told reporters on Saturday.
18 people were killed in the storm
For weeks Bahia has been suffering from storms that led to floods and landslides.
According to Brazilian media reports, 18 people have now been killed.
There were no reports of deaths or injuries caused by the dam breaches, but bridges and roads were damaged.
The "G1" portal reported that at least 3800 people had become homeless since November.
In a dam disaster in Brumadinho, Brazil, at least 260 people were killed by a mudslide in early 2019.
col / dpa / Reuters
