Brazil floods leave 50,000 people without shelter

A helicopter flies over a flooded area in Jacuipe, in the north-eastern state of Alagoas
Photograph: Thiago Sampaio/Reuters

Destroyed railway tracks at the Mundau river in Rio Largo, Alagoas, after heavy rain and floods
Photograph: Thiago Sampaio/EPA

The Mundau river in Rio Largo, Alagoas
Photograph: Tercio Cappello/AFP/Getty Images

Inhabitants wait for help in a street full of debris after houses were destroyed by rain and floods
Photograph: Thiago Sampaio/EPA

An area affected by the flooding in Rio Largo
Photograph: Tercio Cappello/AFP/Getty Images

People clear debris from a street after heavy rains in Barreiros, Pernambuco state
Photograph: Alexandre Gondim/AP

People recover their belongings after a river overflowed destroying their homes in Uniao dos Palmares
Photograph: Thiago Sampaio/EPA

Devastation caused by the overflowing of the Mundau river
Photograph: Tercio Cappello/AFP/Getty Images

A man walks through the debris of his house in Rio Largo
Photograph: Thiago Sampaio/EPA

A man sleeps next to a camp set up near the rubble of houses destroyed after heavy rains in Rio Largo
Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

A destroyed house after heavy rains in Palmares, Alagoas
Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

An aerial view of a flooded area of Barreiros city, in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco
Photograph: Antonio Cruz/Reuters

A man stands at a camp set up near the rubble of houses destroyed after heavy rains in Rio Largo
Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

Residents gather near destroyed houses in Uniao dos Palmares, Alagoas
Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

A man stands in the ruins of destroyed houses in Palmares, Alagoas
Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

An aerial view of a flooded area of Barreiros, Pernambuco
Photograph: Antonio Cruz/Reuters

Local residents sit on damaged railway tracks in an area devastated by the overflowing Mundaú river, in Branquinho, Alagoas
Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images