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LATIN AMERICA |
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Wind
Storm in Southern Brazil Leaves at Least 5
Dead
RIO DE JANEIRO – A powerful storm with wind
gusts up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per
hour left at least five people dead and
another 22 injured in the southern Brazilian
state of Rio Grande do Sul, officials said.
A woman died when a wall caved in on her and
a man was crushed by a falling tree in the
state capital of Porto Alegre, while a third
person died in the town of Canoas, part of
Porto Alegre’s metropolitan area, and
another in the coastal town of Capivari do
Sul.
The fifth victim was a member of the air
force who fell to his death while trying to
cut a tree branch in Canoas during the
storm.
In the city of Xangri-la, the winds ripped
the roof off a public school building while
30 children were inside, although no one was
seriously hurt, local media reported.
The storm has left some 550,000 homes
without electricity and also affected the
supply of potable water to about a million
residences in the Porto Alegre metropolitan
area.
Eleven cities near Porto Alegre had declared
a state of emergency as of Thursday
afternoon.
Among other storm-related incidents, a truck
lost control and veered off the BR-290
national highway and numerous power pylons
were felled on that same road.
The state government announced it was
sending emergency aid to the most affected
municipalities, including mattresses,
baskets of food and other supplies;
authorities say almost 6,000 people have
been forced from their homes and some 2,600
houses have been damaged and 14 others
destroyed.
Regional emergency management authorities
said the bad weather could continue on
Friday with intense rain and strong winds in
remote areas of the state’s interior, near
the border with the Argentine provinces of
Corrientes and Misiones. EFE |
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