Newsroom Agência Brasil

Brasilia - Brazil's federal Highway Department ("DNIT") that is responsible for road infrastructure reports that the estimated cost of emergency repairs of roads and bridges damaged during the recent flooding in the Northeastern states of Alagoas and Pernambuco will be R$72 million.

In Pernambuco, traffic on the country's main north-south coastal highway, the BR-101, has been interrupted where two bridges over the Una River were washed away. In Alagoas, a bridge on the same highway, over the Mundaú River, collapsed. Besides the bridges, there are places where the BR-101 highway itself, along with some secondary roads, were washed away in landslides. The DNIT says that the bridges will be repaired within 180 days.

The death toll in Alagoas and Pernambuco now stands at 57. Over 50,000 people were left homeless by the rainfall and floods. At least 100,000 people have had to leave their homes temporarily. Dozens of people are still missing.

Allen Bennett - trnaslator/editor The News in English
Link to related article