Death Toll Rises to 78 in Southern Brazil Flooding Crisis

The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Brazil has risen to 78. More than 115,000 people have also left their homes, according to local authorities. The death toll could rise further as 105 people were reported missing yesterday, compared to 70 on Saturday.

The flood in the state of Rio Grande do Sul is the result of continuous rain. Roads and bridges were washed away and air traffic to and from the city of Porto Alegre was temporarily suspended. More than 400,000 people were without power last night.

Brazilian President Lula visited the hard-hit state yesterday. “The bureaucracy will not stand in our way, it will not stop us from restoring the greatness of the state,” he said at a press conference. “It is a war situation and measures will be needed after the war,” said Governor Eduardo Leite.

Volunteers try to rescue people with boats, jet skis and themselves swimming. A man tells Reuters that he and three friends have rescued more than fifty people with jet skis. “The only thing we hear when we go into the street is ‘help,’ ‘help.'”

At a shelter in Porto Alegre, a woman tells how she, her husband and their three children were saved when water almost reached the second floor of their home. “There were floods in September, then in November, and now this one. It’s just going to get worse.”