Floods caused by torrential rains in southern Brazil have already left 144 people dead and more than 2.1 million homeless, regional authorities reported on Sunday, as new storms threaten to further impact the region.
The number of deaths rose with seven additional victims to 137 recorded the previous day. Missing people remain at 125.
According to data from the latest Civil Defense report, a number of IDPs Approaching now 620,000Of which More than 81,000 people were forced to take refuge in shelters established by the authorities.
Also, the balance says that rescue teams evacuated 76,399 people and 10,555 animals from danger areas.
The most dramatic situation is experienced in Rio Grande do SulIt is a border country with Argentina and Uruguay, where at least 146 killed and 806 wounded Where 446 municipalities are affected, i.e. 90% of the total.
The other deceased was reported in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, also affected by the disaster, but to a lesser extent.
Almost the entire state remains on high alert due to weather forecasts and rescue forces are taking advantage of the few spaces left by the storms to continue their search operations.
In addition to heavy rain, strong winds and low temperatures are expected to continue until Tuesday.
The National Center for Disaster Monitoring and Warning (CEMADEN) on Sunday issued a high-risk alert for landslides in almost the entire state and in the urban area of Porto Alegre, with special attention to the Sierra Gaucha.
Rain sirens sounded in the municipality of Uruguayana, located on the border with Argentina, where the waters of the Uruguay River have exceeded their levels and continue to rise.
Procedures to bring food, clothes, blankets and medicines continue throughout the state, amid a shortage of energy and water services that are being restored little by little, especially in the state capital.
the Damage Inundations caused by floods in Rio Grande do Sul are estimated at approx 18,839 million riyals ($3,700 million)according to the regional government.
Currently, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced An aid package worth 50 billion riyals ($9.8 billion) For that country, between appropriations and direct aid measures.
The rain, which had subsided slightly since Thursday, returned to the region on Saturday, although its intensity was less than what experts expected.
The Tacuari Valley, in the center of the state, remains one of the worst affected areas, as does Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, whose historic center remains submerged after the Guayba River overflowed.
The same thing does not happen in the far south of the state, where several neighborhoods in the cities of Pelotas and Rio Grande were flooded after the waters of the Lagoa dos Patos River overflowed, the level of which was one and a half meters higher than normal.
But the chaos lives on throughout the state and towards the north of the region, in Pinto Gonçalves, where the situation is also deplorable and where more than 125,000 people live, most of them peasants and farmers.
This is the case of Laerton Bavarita, a 52-year-old farmer, who had to go live with his family and his sick mother with a friend in the neighboring municipality of Tottori, because his house was almost destroyed and inaccessible due to landslides. .
“We live here because we have no energy there,” We have no way out“There is no way to cross,” he told EFE in horror.
The situation may worsen throughout the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the coming hours, as in addition to the heavy rain, strong winds and low temperatures are expected that may extend until Tuesday.
(With information from EFE)
“Unapologetic tv specialist. Hardcore zombie trailblazer. Infuriatingly humble problem solver.”