Brazil is hit by floods: at least 37 deaths are recorded

The strong rains in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazilkilled 37 people and 74 more are missing, the state civil protection agency said on Friday, as record floods devastated cities and forced thousands of people to abandon their homes.

This has been the fourth environmental disaster of this type in a year, after the floods of July, September and November 2023, which caused the death of 75 people in total.

The floods throughout the state have surpassed that which occurred in 1941, according to the Geological Survey of Brazil. In some cities, the water level was the highest since records began to be kept almost 150 years ago, the civil protection agency said.

On Thursday, the dam of a hydroelectric power plant between the towns of Bento Goncalves and Cotipora partially collapsed, leaving entire towns in the Taquari River Valley, such as Lajeado and Estrela, under water. In the city of Feliz, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Porto Alegre, the state capital, the enormous flood of a river destroyed a bridge that connected that city with the neighboring Linha Nova.

Operators reported power, communications and water outages across the state. More than 23,000 people had to leave their homes, according to the civil protection agency.

Without internet, phone or electricity, residents struggled to give updates or information to family members living in other states. Several helicopters continually flew over the cities, where stranded families and their children waited on their roofs to be rescued.

The rains began on Monday, and are forecast to last until Saturday, he declared on Friday on public television. Brazil Marcelo Seluchi, principal meteorologist at the National Center for Surveillance and Alerts of Natural Disasters.

The governor of the state, Eduardo Leite, alerted state residents, known as gauchos, on Thursday night about the persistence of rains and floods. The situation is expected to worsen in Porto Alegre, he noted.

“As a human being, I feel internally devastated, like all gauchos“, said. “But as governor, I remain unwavering and guarantee that we will not fail. We are doing everything with focus, attention and discipline to ensure that we do everything within our power”.

Weather conditions throughout South America have been affected by The boya climate phenomenon newspaper of natural origin that warms surface waters in the equatorial Pacific region. In BrazilEl Niño has historically caused droughts in the north and heavy rains in the south.

This year, the effects of The boy have been especially drastic, and a historic drought has been recorded in the region of the Amazon. Scientists said extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to human-caused climate change.