MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

More rain forecast in southeastern Brazil as cyclone death toll rises

Pimenta admitted he had found “a sad and desolate scenario”

Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) said on Wednesday that more rain was to be expected in parts of the State of Rio Grande do Sul throughout the September 7 holiday as the death toll from the recent extratropical cyclone rose to 37 (including one victim in the neighboring State of Santa Catarina), Agência Brasil reported. Rio Grande do Sul's government was to declare a state of public calamity.

Inmet forecast large accumulations of rain, especially in the extreme south of the state, with volumes that could exceed 70 millimeters (mm) in some areas. This volume indicates heavy rain and could cause rivers to overflow and cause flooding in various regions of the state.

For Friday (8) the advance of a new cold front will increase the instability and cause rainfall accumulations of up to 100 mm in part of Rio Grande do Sul, which could reach the same areas impacted by the rain of recent days.

Meteorologists have warned the population of the importance of following weather forecast updates and special warnings over the next few days, in addition to the recommendations of the National Civil Defense and the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul.

The Rio Grande do Sul Civil Defense has issued a warning of thunderstorms, electrical discharges, possible hail, and wind gusts.

Between last Friday and Monday afternoon, a wide channel of hot, humid air, associated with a low-pressure system, indicated the arrival of the extratropical cyclone that caused strong instability and heavy rain in areas of the Southern Region, especially in the northern half of Rio Grande do Sul, which resulted in significant accumulations of rain in the first five days of September.

Satellite images show a stationary center of low atmospheric pressure, positioned in the extreme northeast of Argentina, between Paraguay and Rio Grande do Sul.

Civil Defense counted at least 79 municipalities affected, 2,319 people homeless and 3,575 displaced, with 1,777 people rescued and 9 others still missing. The total number of people affected is estimated at 56,787.

On a visit to Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday, Integration and Regional Development Minister Waldez Góes and Presidential Social Communication Secretary (Secom/PR) Paulo Pimenta guaranteed there would be no shortage of resources to assist the victims.

Minister Góes recalled that this year, when two other cyclones hit, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, through a provisional measure, allocated R$280 million (US$ 57.11 million) for relief works.

“President Lula has already adopted a measure. We still have resources from this provisional measure and, if a new measure needs to be issued, it will. What he [Lula] authorized, both Pimenta and I, was to report to the state government, to the population, to the municipalities, that there will be no shortage of resources,” said Waldez, while Pimenta admitted on social networks that he had found “a sad and desolate scenario.”

(Source: Agência Brasil)