Brazil flood chaos diminishes, but 265K still homeless and 42 dead

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Monday said that all possible steps are being taken to deal with the flood situation in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Every possible effort is being undertaken at the centre and the state level to deal with the flood situation, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singvi told reporters here.

October 5th, 2009 HYDERABAD - United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi Monday conducted an aerial survey of Andhra Pradesh's flood-hit districts. Accompanied by union Home Minister P.

September 24th, 2009 Reports: 11 dead in fireworks explosion in BrazilSAO PAULO — An explosion has rocked a neighborhood on the outskirts of Sao Paulo and Brazilian news media say a fireworks store exploded, killing at least 11. Bandeirantes TV showed destroyed buildings and overturned cars and it said an entire city block was blown up.

July 31st, 2009 COTABATO - At least eight people were drowned and thousands lost their homes in flash floods in southern Philippines, officials said Friday. Five people, including three children, were killed when their home was swept away in a flash flood in Malapatan town in Sarangani province Thursday, Zorahayda Taha, director of the social welfare department, said.

July 13th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Seven people were killed and many others missing when a bus fell into a rivulet after being swept away by flood waters in Orissa's Nayagarh district Monday evening, officials said. The bus was swept away by the flood waters while travelling over a bridge without side pillars.

July 6th, 2009 BEIJING - Twenty people have died and over 700,000 left homeless following torrential rains and floods in southern China over the past one week, authorities said Monday. More than 700,000 people have been relocated as heavy rains destroyed houses, flooded crops, cut power lines, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow, according to the latest figures from the provinces of Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

June 4th, 2009 Lawmaker seeks Brazil sanctions over custody caseTRENTON, N.J. — A U.S. congressman is pushing to suspend certain trade preferences with Brazil until a boy at the center of a custody dispute there is returned to his father in New Jersey.

June 2nd, 2009 NJ man arrives in Brazil to reclaim custody of sonNEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey father has arrived in Brazil with the goal of bringing his son back to the United States.

May 12th, 2009 Brazil floods ease, but 267K still homelessSAO PAULO — Thousands of Brazilians returned home Tuesday following devastating floods but water kept on rising in some places and civil defense officials used helicopters, trucks and boats to deliver aid to victims in isolated communities. The death toll declined from 42 to 39 because some deaths were mistakenly classified as flood-related, said officials in the sprawling jungle state of Amazonas.

May 11th, 2009 Brazil boosts flood aid for 308K left homelessSAO LUIS, Brazil — Brazil intensified efforts to get food and other aid to people isolated by severe flooding as waters kept rising in some areas Monday, including a jungle river nearing its highest level in more than 50 years. At least 40 people have died in the worst flooding in northern Brazil in at least two decades, and the number of homeless is now above 308,000.

May 11th, 2009 Floods ease in Brazil, but 300,000-plus homelessPEDREIRAS, Brazil — Floodwaters receded some in inundated towns across northern Brazil on Sunday, but the number of homeless rose above 300,000 and two people were missing after an overloaded canoe overturned in swift waters. Forty deaths had been confirmed in northern Brazil's worst flooding in decades, fed by two months of unusually heavy rains in a zone stretching from deep in the Amazon to normally arid areas near the Atlantic coast.

May 11th, 2009 Brazil boosts flood aid effort for 300K homelessSAO LUIS, Brazil — Brazil intensified efforts Monday to ship aid to areas isolated by severe flooding as waters continued rising in a jungle state nearly the size of Alaska and more than 300,000 people remained homeless. At least 40 people have died in the worst northern flooding in at least two decades, and two were still missing Monday after an overloaded canoe capsized over the weekend.

May 6th, 2009 Heavy rains leave 186K homeless in northern BrazilSAO PAULO — Floods and mudslides from heavy rains in northern Brazil have driven more than 186,000 from their homes and killed 19 people, officials said Tuesday. Television images showed the rooftops of houses poking out of inundated towns and people using boats to move around in their cities.

May 2nd, 2009 Brazil: At least 60K homeless, 14 dead from floodsSAO PAULO — Officials say floods and mudslides from heavy rains in northeastern Brazil have killed at least 14 people in the last month and driven tens of thousands from their homes. Regional Civil Defense departments report that at least 62,600 people are homeless in five northeastern states.

April 30th, 2009 Polish official: 23 dead in Polish shelter blazeWARSAW, Poland — Polish prosecutors are raising the death toll from a fire that ripped through a homeless shelter in mid-April to 23 after DNA tests on the victims. Malgorzata Wojciechowicz, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in Szczecin, said Thursday that 23 people were killed in the blaze, including 13 children.