News Americas, RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Thurs. July 21, 2011: Rains continue to hammer the northeastern Brazilian states of Pernambuco and Paraiba, taking several lives and leaving thousands more homeless.
Close to 13,300 people have been forced from their homes because of flooding caused by torrential rains, authorities said and since last weekend, ten people have died.
Among the dead is a 2-month-old baby who was killed when a house in Paraiba collapsed. Nine others died in Pernambuco from mudslides and flooding, emergency services officials said.
Some 8,400 people in that state have lost their homes to the rains in recent days and have had to move elsewhere until the high river waters recede while a total of 26 cities have declared a state of emergency in Paraiba because of rains that have particularly inundated the municipalities of Rio Tinto, Santa Rita, Alagoas Grande, Inga and Mulungu.
