Floods displace about 50,000
Flooding from torrential rains in Brazil’s normally arid northeast has killed 15 people and driven about 50,000 from their homes, civil defense officials said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed an executive order releasing $360 million to help flood victims.
The 15 victims drowned in the state of Paraiba, where the Paraiba River overflowed and the walls of a dam cracked, the Civil Defense Department said.
In addition to Paraiba, thousands of residents were driven from their homes in Piaui, Maranhao, Pernambuco and Ceara states, officials said.
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