Porto Alegre. It stopped raining but the water is still flooding Porto Alegre and hundreds of other cities in southern Brazil on Monday, while concern grows over the supply of water and food in the midst of the worst climate catastrophe in the region.
In total, 83 people died, 111 are missing and more than 129 thousand had to leave their homes due to the torrential rains that caused the rise of riverbeds and landslides in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to the latest data from Civil Defense.
The catastrophe, which experts and the Brazilian government itself link to climate change, left a “scenario of war,” described the state governor, Eduardo Leite, the day before.
364 communities were affected and many of them remain isolated, without communications or supplies of basic services.
In Porto Alegre, the modern capital of the state with 1.4 million inhabitants, the sun came out this Monday but a good part of its neighborhoods remained under water.
Neucir Carmo, a resident of the Floresta neighborhood, worried about the rising: “Last night the water reached the corner, it had stabilized. Today, we woke up and it is already in front of my house and continues to rise… it is not known how far it will go. “This 62-year-old man told AFP.
The Guaíba River, which divides the city, reached 5.27 meters in the morning, above the record of 4.76 meters recorded during historic floods in 1941, but had stabilized after reaching a peak of 5.30 meters the day before.
Bailouts and rationing
The force of the waters washed away bridges and roads, and caused landslides that interrupted some 200 traffic routes, making relief difficult.
In helicopters, boats or boats, military forces, firefighters and volunteers continue working against the clock in rescue tasks.
Almost 14,000 soldiers were mobilized in the region, according to the government.
A week after the rains began to destroy everything in their path, the supply of water and food is compromised and the authorities fear for the supply.
The Porto Alegre mayor’s office decreed water rationing and restricts its use exclusively for essential consumption.
“We are finding almost nothing in the market. We have been without water for three days now,” Carmo lamented.
Wave of solidarity
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva traveled to the affected area for the second time on Sunday and promised that the government “will expedite the delivery of all necessary resources” for the reconstruction of the state of 11 million inhabitants.
The government of Rio Grande do Sul receives a wave of solidarity, with donations from all over the country and a collection of around 38 million reais (about 7.6 million dollars).
At the Civil Defense logistics center, the bags with donations formed large mountains waiting for distribution, according to images shown at a press conference this Monday.
More than 20 thousand people were housed in public shelters and field hospitals were set up due to the evacuation of medical care centers.
Classes in public schools in Porto Alegre were suspended until Wednesday, while the facilities are used as shelters, the municipality reported.
Meanwhile, the state Health Secretariat sent medical supplies by air to several flooded municipalities.
Return of the rain
The accumulated volume of rain in some municipalities in the mountains exceeded 600 mm last week, a third of the annual average rainfall, according to the specialized site MetSul.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) warned of new storms of “great danger” in areas of the south of the state, with rains of up to more than 100 mm, strong winds and possible hail until noon on Tuesday. In the affected areas, rain could fall heavily again from Wednesday.
According to Brazilian climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino, the disaster is the consequence of a “disastrous cocktail” of climate change and the El Niño meteorological phenomenon, which favored the devastating rains that hit the south of the country and other extreme events.
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– 2024-05-09 10:10:28
