Floods in Brazil

Since 19 June 2010, the northeastern region of Brazil has been experiencing torrential rains, mainly in the provinces of Alagoas and Pernambuco, where SOS Children's Villages Brazil runs three programmes: the SOS Social Centre Recife, the SOS Social Centre Igarassu and the SOS Children's Village Igarassu.

Due to the floods caused by the continuing rain, 57 people have died and 69 are still missing. Thirty-one communities are in a state of emergency,and 27 have suffered massive damages. The homes and property of 54,000 people have been damaged, and 100,000 have been evacuated from the areas in which authorities fear the spread of diseases.

The Director of SOS Children's Villages Brazil and his Deputy have recently travelled to the affected areas to determine the extent of damages to SOS programmes. Thankfully, the SOS children, mothers and administrative staff are all unharmed. However, there have been damages to the infrastructure of several buildings. In general, it is the plumbing and drains which require extensive repairs, because they have not been able to handle large amounts of water. The prolongued rain has created puddles of stagnant water in several places in the Children's Village - a health risk to the children.