The devastating floods in the southern region of Brazil So far they have left 108 dead and 136 missing, in addition to 374 injured, according to the balance released this Thursday by the Civil Defense.
There are nearly 1.5 million victims in Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Uruguay and Argentina, where torrential rains have caused unprecedented destruction in this prosperous Brazilian state, where 107 of the fatalities have been reported.
The other death was recorded in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, which was also affected by the intense storm of the last week, although to a lesser extent.
In Rio Grande do Sul, 425 municipalities have been affected, some of which are completely submerged under water and where 6,200 have been completely destroyed, according to partial data from the National Confederation of Municipalities.
About 232,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and moved to shelters or their relatives’ homes, according to the Civil Defense.
Hundreds of police, firefighters, soldiers and volunteers are still working hard today to rescue the population that is still cut off due to the high water level and that is beginning to suffer from the lack of food.
In addition, the rains of the last few hours forced the suspension of rescue efforts in Porto Alegre, the regional capital, where there are still completely flooded neighborhoods and the main airport will be closed at least until the end of this month.
The strong storm broke out on Monday of last week and continued the following days, causing extensive damage to roads, bridges, homes and leaving a large part of the population of Rio Grande do Sul without electricity or drinking water.
Rio Grande do Sul, an important agricultural hub, already suffered extreme climatic phenomena last year, with rare extratopical cyclones, which also caused serious damage, although far from the magnitude of the latter.
Meteorological specialists have associated the intensity of these storms with climate change.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, He stated on Wednesday, during an event to present investments in areas of infrastructure and prevention of natural disasters, that this climate tragedy is “a warning to the world” and “a bill that the planet is passing” to humanity.
Source: Gestion
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