Floods force 7,000 to flee homes

Heavy floods caused by 10 days of torrential downpours have killed three people in Brazil, officials said today.

Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in the city of Rio Branco, capital of the north-western state of Acre.

The Acre river that crosses the city has “overflowed its banks, forcing more than 7,000 people to seek shelter with relatives or in public buildings like gymnasiums and schools,” civil defence captain George Luiz Pereria Santos said by phone from his office in Rio Branco, 1,700 miles north-west of Sao Paulo.

Rio Branco has a population of about 300,000.

“Although not forced to leave their homes, another 19,0000 people are suffering the effects of the flood. They without drinking water and electricity,” he added.

“If the river continues rising they may also have to leave their homes.”

Without providing details, he said two people drowned and one person was electrocuted.