Brazil president visits Pernambuco and Alagoas states, promises flood relief aid

President Michel Temer visited two Brazilian states lashed by rain storms on Sunday (May 28) to talk meet state authorities.

In Pernambuco, the president authorized emergency response actions and promised to provide funding for water projects. One of them is a loan of R$600 million (nearly $184 million) from the National Development Bank (BNDES) to the state government—it wants to use the funds to resume stalled dam projects that could have helped prevent the problems caused by the weekend rainstorm.

Temer said the loan has already been approved by the National Treasury Secretariat. The money will be used to complete four dam projects that had been announced in 2010 on the occasion of the last flood in Pernambuco, but were put on hold for lack of federal funding, according to the state government. “I promised the governor to make this crucial loan available,” he said.

On Sunday (28), 15 municipalities were declared disaster areas in Pernambuco due to flooding or landslides—Caruaru, Gameleira, Belém de Maria, Palmares, Amaraji, Maraial, Ribeirão, Cortês, Barra de Guabiraba, São Benedito do Sul, Rio Formoso, Catende, Água Preta, Jaqueira, and Barreiros. Thirty thousand people have been displaced, two died in Lagoa dos Gatos, and two went missing in Caruaru.

As of 10-11pm on Sunday, the rainfall monitoring webpage of the Pernambuco State Water and Weather Agency (APAC) reported rainfalls of more than 100 mm within 24 hours. Five municipalities reported over 200 mm—Rio Formoso first among them (323,24 mm), followed by Sirinhaém, Gameleira, Ribeirão, and Ipojuca.

 
Translated by Mayra Borges