22 June 2010

BRASIL:1ST UPDATE: 45 Dead, Possibly 600 Missing, 120,000 Homeless After NE Floods.

AP/MIAMI HERALD/UPDATE: 24 June/ (With 9 fotos and Videos)       The death toll so far is 45 with possibly 600 people missing after heavy rains in the north-eastern states of Alagoas and Pernambuco swelled rivers and burst at least one dam since Thursday. At least 120,000 are reported homeless. Teotonio Vilela Filho, the governor of Alagoas said: "In certain areas it looks like what happened in Haiti," claiming that 70% of the state's railway lines had been destroyed by the flooding. President Lula da Silva  pledged $100 million in food, water and reconstruction aid for the flooded areas as he toured the area in a helicopter.