MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Two dead in southern Brazil heavy storms

Rains in recent days in southern Brazil are caused by the La Niña phenomenon

Heavy storms in Santa Catarina have left 2 people dead and at least 140 people homeless, with health and transportation services suspended statewide, it was reported Wednesday. The most affected regions were the northern coast and Greater Florianópolis.

In Camboriú, two cousins, aged 17 and 16, were buried after a landslide hit the house where both of them and a 9-year-old girl were sleeping in the Jardim Aliança neighborhood. The younger child was taken to a hospital and has already been released. According to the Camboriú City Hall, 60% of the city was affected by flooding.

“Due to the disruption and flooding on the main roads of the city caused by heavy rains that fell in recent hours, the operation of public transportation in the city was impossible,” the authorities said.

In Florianópolis, bus circulation was affected because of the flood, especially the lines that pass through the neighborhood Ingleses and SC-401. In Piçarras, in the Morretes and Nossa Senhora da Conceição neighborhoods, and in the city of Águas Mornas, the water supply is impaired after the Casan (Santa Catarina Company for Water and Sanitation) treatment station became flooded.

According to the latest weather forecast, southern Brazil is still up for in Greater Florianópolis, the lower valley of Itajaí, and on the northern coast. Rains in recent days are caused by low maritime pressure that favors high levels of humidity, caused by the La Niña phenomenon, the same that caused heavy rains and landslides in late November and early December. On the first day of the month, the state counted almost 900 people displaced and at least two deaths.