Southern Brazil is hit by historic floods, plunging entire towns under water.
This Friday, a final report shows 29 dead and 60 missing.
President Lula visited the site on Thursday, while the precipitation will continue.
Landslides, completely submerged cities, mudslides… The state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, has experienced an episode of historic flooding for the region in recent days. Its governor, Eduardo Leite, even speaks of “worst climate disaster“observed in this area of the country, bordering Uruguay and Argentina.”I want to deeply deplore all the lives lost, he said on Thursday May 2. There are 29 deaths recorded now, and with the deepest pain, I know there will be more.“60 missing are also to be deplored.
From the sky, several images reveal entire sectors of municipalities under water. Only the roofs of the houses are sometimes still visible in the middle of the brown water. “I’ve never seen anything like it, deplores Raul Metzel, a resident of Capela de Santana, one of the localities hit hard by bad weather. Everything is underwater and it’s going to get even worse. It’s impossible to sleep, we don’t know to what extent the water level will continue to rise.“
Lula came to support the victims
Faced with the urgency of the situation, a “state of public calamity” was declared Wednesday evening in this state by the authorities. To support relief efforts, the sending of more than 600 soldiers was announced to reinforce the forces already present on the ground and to distribute food to the victims. On Thursday, President Lula visited the region. On this occasion he promised that Rio Grande do Sul “will not lack means“humans in the coming days to deal with these terrible weather conditions.
In total, at least 154 localities were affected by flooding. Evacuations of residents have increased in recent hours: more than 10,000 people have had to leave their homes, of which some 4,600 have been taken into accommodation. The population seems distraught by the extent of the damage. Some are worried about their loved ones, like Claudio Oliveira, a 54-year-old mechanic we met in Capela de Santana. Part of his family lives about twenty kilometers from the city. “We can not do anything with it, he regrets. (…) I can’t bring them home because we can’t go get them.“
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