With 385 cities, towns, and villages in the state of Rio Grande do Sul inundated due to a historic rainfall, the search for the 134 individuals reported missing is getting harder.
Fears that food and drinking water may soon run out have caused hundreds of municipalities in southern Brazil to be destroyed by floodwaters that have resumed their onslaught.
Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul state said on Monday that since the extraordinary flooding began last week, at least 85 people have died and over 150,000 have been forced from their homes by floods and mudslides.
With 339 people injured and 134 people reported missing amid the destruction, the hunt is getting more and more frantic.
The calamity has left the state looking like “a scene out of a war,” according to the state’s governor, Eduardo Leite, who made the connection between it and the climate problem on Sunday.
385 cities, towns, and villages have been affected in all; many of these are still cut off from the outside world, without access to electricity, clean water, or a way to call for assistance.
Several suburbs of Porto Alegre, the 1.4 million-person state capital, were still under water on Monday despite the sun shining.
“The water reached the corner last night and steadied. We woke up today to find it rising outside my house,” 62-year-old Floresta neighborhood resident Neucir Carmo told the AFP news agency. “We don’t know how high it will go.”
Sunday saw the Guaiba River reach a record high of 5.3 meters, which is significantly higher than the historic peak of 4.76 meters that coincided with severe floods in 1941. The Guaiba River runs through the mega-city of high-rise buildings and wide streets. The level had dropped somewhat to 5.27 meters by Monday morning..
On its website, the meteorological organization MetSul stated that certain areas of Porto Alegre, the larger metropolitan area, and the valley communities “will be uninhabitable for weeks to months.”
El Nino meets the climate crisis
Since the flood began a week ago, numerous roads and bridges have been washed away, making rescue efforts more difficult and necessitating the use of boats and helicopters.
An estimated 14,000 military are assisting volunteers and search and rescue teams as they work around the clock, raising concerns about the availability of food, drinkable water, and other necessities.
Food and medication donations flooded in from all around the nation, and rescue fund beneficiaries received contributions from Good Samaritans totaling approximately $7.6 million.
The top football players in the nation have joined the effort to gather money, lending their names to a request for donations for victims made by the Brazilian Football Confederation. Players like Vinicius Jr., Neymar, and Ronaldinho have all participated in the campaign.
Francisco Eliseu Aquino, a climatologist from Brazil, told the AFP news agency that the floods was caused by a “disastrous cocktail” of the El Nino weather event and the climate problem.
According to MetSul, “The biggest concern is the indications… that between the 10th and 15th of May, there would be a new episode of instability with a risk of excessive rain in Rio Grande do Sul.”
It stated that they would impact Porto Alegre and the Guaiba River once more.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
