The World - News from April 13, 1989

Weeklong rains that pounded northeast Brazil left at least 23 people dead and thousands homeless, rescue officials said. In the coastal city of Joao Pessoa, 1,614 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro in the state of Paraiba, 19 residents of two shantytowns were killed when their sodden homes collapsed, officials said. In Recife, capital of the neighboring state of Pernambuoco, four members of one family were killed in a slum neighborhood when their home collapsed, a civil defense official said. About 200 families left homeless by the rains were being housed in public buildings in Recife and another 300 families throughout the state were being given emergency shelter, he added.