SAO PAULO — Brazil rushed aid Wednesday by air, over land and through rapidly rising waters to dozens of cities and towns isolated by floods that have killed at least 32 people and left more than 200,000 homeless.
Some complained that aid wasn’t coming fast enough to help flood victims deal with the disaster, which officials said is the worst flooding that some parts of the region have seen in two decades.
In an ominous sign that worried officials, rain continued to fall across a vast region stretching from the Amazon jungle to the northeastern Atlantic coast and meteorologists predicted the bad weather could last for weeks.
Isolated looting was reported in communities cut off by flooding. People with pets and chickens jammed inside an abandoned hospital turned into a shelter. Some victims paddled canoes to retrieve belongings from inundated homes. Children called out for food.
Most victims drowned or were killed when mudslides swept over ramshackle homes, but authorities feared the situation could get much worse because many areas had been isolated for days without shipments of food or water.
Protests began emerging Wednesday night from flooded communities that aid was taking too long too arrive. In the Maranhao city of Bacabel, population about 70,000, officials said the displaced needed mattresses, blankets, personal hygiene products and drinking water.
"We’ve only had 13 shipments and there are still a lot of isolated people in rural areas,” Bacabel civil defense coordinator Roseane Silva said.
by the associated press
Some complained that aid wasn’t coming fast enough to help flood victims deal with the disaster, which officials said is the worst flooding that some parts of the region have seen in two decades.
In an ominous sign that worried officials, rain continued to fall across a vast region stretching from the Amazon jungle to the northeastern Atlantic coast and meteorologists predicted the bad weather could last for weeks.
Isolated looting was reported in communities cut off by flooding. People with pets and chickens jammed inside an abandoned hospital turned into a shelter. Some victims paddled canoes to retrieve belongings from inundated homes. Children called out for food.
Most victims drowned or were killed when mudslides swept over ramshackle homes, but authorities feared the situation could get much worse because many areas had been isolated for days without shipments of food or water.
Protests began emerging Wednesday night from flooded communities that aid was taking too long too arrive. In the Maranhao city of Bacabel, population about 70,000, officials said the displaced needed mattresses, blankets, personal hygiene products and drinking water.
"We’ve only had 13 shipments and there are still a lot of isolated people in rural areas,” Bacabel civil defense coordinator Roseane Silva said.
by the associated press
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