Heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul killed at least 60 people, with another 101 reported missing, the local authorities said, as record-breaking floods devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes.
At least 155 people were injured, while damage from the rains forced more than 80,000 people from their homes. Approximately 15,000 took refuge in schools, gymnasiums and other temporary shelters. Rio Grande do Sul’s civil defence authority said nearly two-thirds of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina, had been affected.
The flooding statewide has surpassed that seen during a historic 1941 deluge, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. In some cities, water levels were at their highest since records began nearly 150 years ago, the agency said.
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On Thursday, a dam at a hydroelectric plant between the cities of Bento Goncalves and Cotipora partially collapsed and entire cities in the Taquari River valley, like Lajeado and Estrela, were completely overtaken by water.
In the town of Feliz, 80 kilometres from the state capital, Porto Alegre, a massively swollen river swept away a bridge that connected it with the neighbouring city of Linha Nova.
Operators reported electricity, communications and water cuts across the state. Without internet, telephone service or electricity, residents struggled to provide updates or information to their relatives living in other states. Helicopters flew continually over the cities while stranded families with children awaited rescue on the rooftops.
Isolete Neumann, 58, lives in the city of Lajeado in the Taquari River valley said she has never seen a scenario like the one she is now experiencing.
“People were making barricades in front of hospitals with sand and gravel. It felt like a horror movie,” she said by phone. Some people in her region were so desperate, she added, that they threw themselves into the water currents.
Neumann’s own neighbourhood wasn’t inundated, but has no running water and she hasn’t showered since Tuesday. She said she’s collecting rainwater in a basin to be able to cook. A clothing store she owns in the city’s central area is flooded, she added.
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“I don’t even know how it must be. There must be nothing left.”
On Thursday night, Governor Eduardo Leite alerted the state’s population – known as gauchos – about the persistence of rains and floods. The situation was expected to worsen in Porto Alegre, he said.
“As a human being, I am devastated inside, just like every gaucho is,” he said. “But as governor, I am here steadfast and I guarantee that we will not falter. We are doing everything with focus, attention, discipline, and outrage, to ensure that everything within our reach is done.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva acknowledged the flood victims at a press conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Brasilia.
“The first words from Minister Fumio Kishida in the meeting we held were of solidarity with the people of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, who are victims by one of the largest floods we have ever known,” Lula said. “Never before in the history of Brazil had there been such a quantity of rain in one single location.”
Weather across South America is affected by the climate phenomenon El Niño, a periodic, naturally occurring event that warms surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region. In Brazil, El Niño has historically caused droughts in the north and intense rainfall in the south.
This year, the impacts of El Niño have been particularly dramatic, with a historic drought in the Amazon. Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change.
Karina Lima, a 36-year-old scientist and PhD candidate in climatology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, said the state is located in a region with certain characteristics that amplify El Niño’s destructive potential.
“Models have long predicted that Rio Grande do Sul will continue to see an increase in average annual precipitation and extreme precipitation, meaning more concentrated and severe rainfall,” she said.
AP, Reuters
