In Brazil THE violent floods led the country to declare it state of natural disaster. The state of Rio Grande do Sulin the south of the country, was affected by worst floods since 1941which have currently caused an extremely serious toll: at least 96 victims, 362 injured, 131 missing, dozens of thousands displaced people and half a million people without electricity or drinking water. The heaviest rains were recorded near Porto Alegre, the capital, where the airport was closed and buses out of service: here they fell up to 150 millimeters of rain in one daymore than the amount expected in the region the whole month of April. Think of the lake Guaiba reached a record level on Sunday May 5 5.31 metersnever recorded, not even during the devastating historic flood of 1941.
The historic flood of 1941
Such events are not entirely new to the region: only 2023 happened three floods (respectively in July, September and November) which they caused overall 75 dead. But at the same time, floods so intense they are certainly not common. In fact, the last similar event was in 1941.
The affected area was more or less the same and, according to what a 2022 study published in the journal SciElo Brazil reports, on this occasion there was 15 thousand houses flooded For about 40 days, 70 thousand people were moved and the level reached by the water was the highest ever recorded in the history of the country up to that time, equal to 4.76 meters. Although in this case the increase in water level was more gradual than what has been recorded in recent days, it is a phenomenon that, at least in part, can be attributed (again ) to the presence of El Niño.
The anti-flood system
In fact, when the government created a flood defense system trained by 68 km of dams, 14 anti-flood doors And 19 pumping systems. In addition to this, the Wall of Mauáthat is to say an almost long wall 3km three meters high and buried for the others 10 foot, whose objective was to protect the main monuments of the capital. However, the system requires maintenance which has not been carried out properly and, despite requests from citizens, the government has never made meaningful interventions. The result is that conditions today are worse and therefore also the city wall it’s not waterproof: the water still manages to flow in large quantities, so much so that it has pushed the government to try to stop it with sandbags.
