Christian Groups Respond to Deadly Flood in Brazil

By Jennifer Riley, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Christian relief groups are on the ground helping victims of a flood that is described as the "worst environmental calamity" in the Brazilian state's history.

Some 1.5 million people have been affected and the death toll has reached 116 in flood-ravaged Santa Catarina state. The downpour of rain in the past two months, including 35 inches of rain in November, has left 80,000 people homeless.

To make matters worse, officials are investigating reports of an outbreak of a potentially fatal water-borne disease.

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Santa Catarina governor Luiz Henrique da Silveira called the flooding "the worst environmental calamity we have ever faced," according to The Associated Press.

Amid the calamity, Christian groups are working together to provide much needed relief supplies to the hardest hit areas.

Operation Blessing International, The Salvation Army and a number of local churches have partnered to help the flood victims.

"As we have seen in many other natural disasters of this magnitude, great quantities of relief supplies pour into the major cities near the affected areas, but because of roads and other infrastructure being destroyed, the local government are not prepared to transport those supplies to the victims," said Bill Horan, president of OBI. "In such crises, transportation and orderly distribution are keys to breaking the logistical logjam and supplying relief."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowed Monday that Santa Catarina will be rebuilt as it was prior to the flooding.

"We cannot lose hope," Lula said, according to CNN. "We must be convinced that people will reconstruct the state of Santa Catarina. There is a national solidarity never seen before in the history of the country."