2024-05-13 01:21:26
The death toll from historic floods in southern Brazil reached one hundred on Wednesday, while rescue operations in the hard-hit capital of Porto Alegre were suspended due to new rains.
According to Civil Defense, at least 100 people died, 374 were injured and 130 are missing due to river flooding after torrential rains in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
One and a half million people were affected and more than 163,000 left their homes due to this climate disaster, whose violence experts and the Brazilian government link to climate change.
The Guaíba River, overflowing over Porto Alegre, decreased more than 20 centimeters since Tuesday and stood at 5.06 meters, but the situation is still unstable.
Volunteers with boats and jetskis scoured the flooded streets early in the morning to rescue people who were still trapped in their homes or who simply did not want to leave them for fear of looting.
But when the water was barely receding in some areas, the rain fell again, interrupting evacuations.
The mayor’s office asked on social networks “that ships in rescue operations temporarily suspend their activities.” It also cited “possible electric shocks and winds exceeding 80 km/h in the next few hours.”
– Contaminated water –
The authorities also insisted on the danger of returning prematurely to vulnerable areas and warned of the possibility of instability in the terrain and dangers to health.
“Contaminated water can transmit diseases,” said Sabrina Ribas, Civil Defense spokesperson.
Near the flooded Gremio stadium in Porto Alegre, where an improvised port operates, the volunteers began to remove their boats with the onset of rainfall, AFP journalists noted.
But despite the new risk of flooding, many residents refuse to leave their homes. Some could be seen on the roofs of humble homes.
– Record flow –
In the south of the state, the floods must reach “serious proportions” in the coming days due to the “colossal” volume of water that has fallen into the Guaíba and other rivers that feed the Laguna de los Patos, with access to the Atlantic, warned the MetSul Meteorology site.
“The record flow is equivalent to (…) what could be expected in a recurrence estimated once every 10,000 years,” he noted in a note.
Precipitation should continue, with “showers” from Friday to Sunday in the Porto Alegre region, according to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet).
The state government decreed an emergency level in five reservoirs, two of them at “imminent risk of rupture.”
The floods in Rio Grande do Sul can “cause impacts” in other countries of the Plata Basin (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay), because “the volume of water passes through cross-border rivers that drain into other territories,” he warned. the Geological Survey of Brazil.
– Damaged homes –
The National Confederation of Municipalities said more than 61,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by water, a downward correction from the previous estimate of 100,000.
Economic losses are estimated at approximately 6.3 billion reais (USD 1.24 billion). The damage to schools, hospitals and town halls totals 351 million reais (USD 69 million).
After the indefinite closure of the international airport, the Canoas military base will receive flights to transport donations and passengers, the air force reported.
– «Humanitarian Corridor» –
The authorities are working on building a “humanitarian corridor”, according to the mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastián Melo, a temporary passage between the city and the metropolitan region, a key issue for the supply of the population, in the absence of drinking water.
For now “nothing is missing except water,” but “for some products we use stock,” Roger da Silva, 36, manager of a supermarket in the municipality of Viamao, east of Porto Alegre, told AFP.
“We asked for (basic) foods like rice and beans” but they did not arrive. “The problem is delivery,” Da Silva explained.
On the other hand, the federal government announced that it will import 200,000 tons of rice to guarantee supply and avoid price speculation, given that the flooded region supplies more than two-thirds of the rice consumed in Brazil.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented the loss of life in Brazil in a statement and stressed that disasters like these are “a reminder” of the devastating effects of the climate crisis.
© Agence France-Presse