Brazilian president vows to step up natural disaster prevention

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Friday pledged to improve warning systems in an effort to prevent major natural disasters. Rousseff made the pledge when she visited flood-hit areas in Minas Gerais, one of the two southeastern states the hardest hit by heavy rains-triggered floods and landslides. "In these times, we must forget political divergences, different parties, and soccer teams. We must act like a single organism saving the population, that is what we were elected for," said the Brazilian President, who urged the federal, state and local governments to work together more closely. The president also inspected neighboring Espirito Santo state, the other region also adversely impacted by the flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains, earlier in the week. More than 40 people died in the two states due to floods and landslides, and 60,000 more residents were forced to evacuate from their homes. So far, 52 towns in the Espirito Santo state and 42 in the Minas Gerais state declared a state of emergency following two weeks of torrential storms.