蜜芽传媒

Unprecedented rains and attendant flooding in Brazil have devastated vast swathes of the northeast of the country, a region that is challenged by both poverty and poor infrastructure. On Sunday, two dams broke, threatening worse flooding.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected. City governments have been warning people on social media to seek safety, but it has been too late for some. Early casualties suggest 18 people have died, but that number may rise, given how difficult access is to some of the affected region. The Bahia State government, in the worst-hit area, says people in at least 50 cities are affected. Sam Cowie is an independent journalist in Sao Paolo.

"This is an unprecedented disaster for the region which overall is pretty poor, so that makes the impact even greater. We're talking about cities pretty much completely inundated with water - up to ten meters high in some places."

Photo shows: Aerial view of floods caused by heavy rains in Itapetinga, Bahia State, Brazil, on December 26, 2021. Credit: Getty Images

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