Dams ruptured in the northeastern region of Brazil in a region devastated by floods

Dams ruptured in the northeastern region of Brazil in a region devastated by floods. 

ITABUNA, Brazil – Two dams collapsed to the northwest of the Brazilian state Bahia following months of heavy rains, flooding already swollen local rivers as the flooding ravaged towns throughout the region, officials said on Sunday.

The Agua dam, located on the Verruga river, which flows near Vitoria da Conquista, the capital city Vitoria da Conquista, in southern Bahia, was sunk late on Saturday night, causing the authorities to move residents mostly located in Itambe.

A second dam led to rising water levels in Jussiape, located 100 kilometers to the north, early on Sunday morning. 

She brought additional warnings to residents to relocate to higher terrain.

There was no report of injuries or deaths due to the dam’s ruptures, but the roads and bridges were destroyed.

Further along the coast in Itabuna, the city of around 200,000 people, Fire brigade teams helped rescue people trapped within their residences in the city’s downtown area, which was submerged, Reuters reporters said.

“It’s crazy by the bridge. There are waves almost 2 meters high,” shopkeeper Luiz Constancia said to Reuters.

Rescuers rode dinghies through the flooded streets to get to families or even take them food. One man could paddle using an inflatable bed to find a house.

Residents claimed that the levels in the Cachoeira river, which runs through the town, which is located 30kms away from the coastal port town that is Ilheus, is the highest it has been in fifty years.

Vitoria da Conquista, Mayor Sheila Lemos, said all living near the collapsed Igua dam were evacuated.

On this city’s official website, Lemos declared that flooding could cut off in the BR-116 highway, a major transport route that connects northeastern and southern Brazil.

Bahia Governor Rui Castro has said that at least 400,000 people have been affected by the torrential rains. 

Thousands of people have been forced to leave 67 towns in emergencies due to flooding caused by the intense rainfall over two months.

“Thousands of people have had to leave their homes because the water rose one or two meters, even three meters in some places,” the journalist was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The heavy rains have led to the deaths of 18 people in Bahia from the start of November, including a ferry operator of 60 years who drowned in the overflowing Rio das Contas river, civil defense officials told reporters.

In Salvador, the capital city of the state of Salvador, the weather authorities said that the December rainfall was six times more than average.