because of the monster floods in the south, cities are practically cut off from the world

Brazil – Torrential rains for several days. With the continued rise in water levels and a toll of at least 56 dead and 74 missing, the situation is becoming more and more critical this Saturday, May 4 in the south of Brazil, where the regional capital Porto Alegre is in turn hit.

The task of rescuers is daunting, because as you can see in our video at the top of the article, Entire cities are practically cut off from the world, made inaccessible by the floods which for several days have devastated the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where it is expected to rain at least until Sunday.

Housing areas drowned as far as the eye can see, roads destroyed or bridges swept away by the current, not to mention the failure of dams which risk further aggravating the situation: the human and material damage is considerable and especially concentrated in the central region of this State bordering Argentina and Uruguay.

A desaster ” unprecedented “

On Friday, streets in the historic center of the city were in turn invaded by water due to the exceptional flood of the Guaiba, an emblematic River of southern Brazil, AFP noted. The authorities estimate that the level of Guaiba could reach 5 meters in the coming hours. The historical record, dating from 1941, is 4.71 m.

In Porto Alegre, the regional capital of 1.5 million inhabitants, the disaster will be ” unprecedented “, warned Governor Eduardo Leite. According to him, the State of Rio Grande do Sul is experiencing the “worst climate disaster in its history”. At least four dams “are in an emergency situation, with a risk of rupture”alerted local authorities.

More than 250 localities have been hit for several days by devastating storms and thunderstorms. The latest count by the authorities lists some 351,000 victims. In total, 23,600 people had to leave their homes.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the region on Thursday, promising that it would not fail to ” means “ human or material in the face of this tragedy. The federal government has pledged to send helicopters and boats, as well as more than 600 military personnel, to reinforce relief operations and food distribution.

“The fingerprints of the climate crisis”

The weather forecasts are worrying, rains of “extreme severity” expected to persist until Sunday, according to Civil Defense, which also warned of the risk of overflowing another river, the Uruguay River.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity. Water supply is also compromised in many localities, as is access to the internet or mobile phone signal.

Rio Grande do Sul has already been hit several times by deadly bad weather, notably in September, when 31 people died after the passage of a devastating cyclone. According to experts, these extreme weather phenomena have increased in frequency and intensity with global warming.

Brazil experienced a historic drought last year in the north of the country and the number of wildfires reached a record from January to April, with more than 17,000 outbreaks recorded across the country, more than half in the Amazon.

“Rain in the south, fire in the north (…). These two tragedies bear the fingerprints of the climate crisis. The government must take urgent action to prevent the situation from getting even worse”alerted the NGO collective Climate Observatory in a press release.

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