As many as 16 people have been killed and several are still missing in a landslide caused by severe flooding in Bahia, a state in the north east of Brazil. The search is continuing for the missing people.
Torrential rainfall from Saturday 7 December, which continued through to Sunday, resulted in the deadly floods that destroyed as many as 70 houses and left 200 people homeless. The floods were centred around the town of Lajedinho. The 200 displaced are currently taking refuge in local schools and a gym. Below is a local news report of the tragedy.
The area saw as much as 120mm of rainfall in just 12 hours. That is around the same as 2 month’s of rain. This occurred in a region that is currently enduring one of the worst droughts on record.
Lajedinho is a small town of around 4,000 population, in the Chapada Diamantina region, about 355 kilometers from the capital Salvador. It is located in a valley and, according to some reports, has suffered from flooding on a regular basis.
