Porto Alegre: Deadly floods, mudslides and storms in Brazil have forced nearly 70,000 people from their homes. Raging floodwaters have left 57 dead, 74 injured and 67 people missing as per Brazilian Civil defence on Saturday.
Two fatalities from an explosion at a flooded petrol station in Porto Alegre, which an AFP journalist saw while rescue workers were trying to refuel, were not included in the death toll. Fast-rising water levels in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were straining the dams threatening particularly economically important Porto Alegre, a city of 1.4 million.
The Guaiba River, which passes through the city, has reached a historic high of 5.04 meters (16.5 feet), significantly higher than the previous record of 4.76 meters that had stood since the disastrous floods of 1941.While residents fought in disorganized conditions to find their way to safety, authorities frantically worked to evacuate flooded neighborhoods.
In addition to the 69,200 individuals who were driven from their homes, the civil defense reported that more than a million people were without access to drinkable water due to the flooding, and they described the damage as unimaginable. Governor Eduardo Leite of Rio Grande do Sul said that his state—which is frequently among the richest in Brazil—would need a “Marshall Plan” with large financial outlays in order to recover from the calamity.
Notwithstanding the cancellation of bus services to and from the city center, there were lengthy lineups of people trying to catch the buses in various locations. For an undisclosed amount of time on Friday, all flights were canceled at Porto Alegre International Airport.A video of a soldier being dropped from a helicopter onto a house, where he used a brick to pound a hole in the roof and save a baby covered in blankets, was shared by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Jose Augusto Moraes, 61, was shaken in a suburb of Porto Alegre’s north after his house was overtaken by rapidly rising floodwaters and he had to summon firefighters to save a trapped youngster. “I totally lost everything,” he said to AFP.
With waters starting to overtop a dike along another local river, the Gravatai, Mayor Sebastiao Malo issued a stern warning on social media platform X, saying, “Communities must leave!” He urged people to ration water, after four of the city’s six treatment plants had to be closed.
Agroindustrial producers of soy, rice, wheat, and corn call the state’s current condition of affairs “absolutely unprecedented,” according to Governor Leite, who made this statement in a live Instagram broadcast. Roads were demolished and bridges were carried away by strong currents, leaving residential areas submerged to the point of visual impairment. Since Monday, at least 300 communities in Rio Grande do Sul have experienced storm damage, as reported by local officials.
A third or so of those who have been displaced have been placed in shelters that have been established in gyms, schools, and other locations. “When I left the house, I was in water up to my waist,” a disheveled-looking 55-year-old Claudio Almiro said to AFP in a suburban area north of Porto Alegre that had been transformed into a shelter.
He said that while he had lost everything, “Many people lost their lives, so I raise my hands to heaven and thank God for having survived.” The rains also had an impact in Santa Catarina, a state in the south. in Friday, a man in the community of Ipira lost his life when his automobile was carried away by raging floodwaters. When Lula visited the area on Thursday, he attributed the catastrophe to climate change.
Climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino told AFP on Friday that the El Nino weather phenomena and global warming combined to create a “disastrous cocktail” that caused the destructive storms. The biggest nation in South America has recently seen a number of severe weather occurrences, including a cyclone in September that left at least 31 people dead.
