MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rio Grande do Sul floods getting worse every day

Key parts of the city of Porto Alegre have been shut down due to flooding (Pic EFE)

According to the latest report from Civil Defense, the number of casualties in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul since the first storms hit on April 29 have already reached 78 people, with 105 others still missing and 175 injured.

 The unusual phenomenon has forced 134,300 people out of their homes, 18,400 of them to shelters while the 115,800 others were housed elsewhere by relatives or friends. In all, 341 of Rio Grande do Sul's 496 municipalities had some kind of problem, affecting 844,000 people.

In this scenario, key federal government authorities from Brasilia went to the disaster area on Sunday. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Speakers Arthur Lira (Lower House) and Rodrigo Pacheco (Senate), in addition to Supreme Federal Court (STF) Deputy Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin joined Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) as he flew over the zone by helicopter.

The last environmental catastrophe in Rio Grande do Sul was in September 2023, when 54 people died after the passage of an extratropical cyclone, Agencia Brasil recalled. Now, the death toll is well above the previous total and is considered by authorities to be the worst climate disaster in Rio Grande do Sul's history.

At least 261,000 points in the state are without electricity (27% of all customers) and more than 854,000 are without water supply (27% of the total).

The rains are causing damage and changes to traffic on the highways. There are 110 stretches on 61 highways with total or partial blockages, including roads and bridges. The information comes from the Autonomous Highway Department (Daer). According to the Logistics and Transportation Secretariat (Selt), work is underway to clear the roads as quickly as possible.

There are also 733 schools in 229 municipalities affectyed by the bad weather, altering the normal life of 247,228 students, Agencia Brasil also noted.

Key parts of the city of Porto Alegre -Rio Grande do Sul's capital- including the Salgado Filho International Airport and the long-distance Bus Terminal have been shut down due to flooding.