Residents of southern Brazil, who are still suffering from devastating floods, are preparing for additional chaos as weather forecasters predict heavy rain on Friday for 12 hours straight and more on the weekend.
As unrelenting downpours saturate the area and extend to sections of neighboring Uruguay, the death toll from the floods that have devastated sections of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul has slowly crept up to 113, according to the state's civil defense office. Those who have been saved from the floods are being advised by officials not to go back to their houses. According to the national meteorological service INMET, heavy rain is predicted to fall in several sections of the state's east and center from Friday to Sunday. several locations could receive as much as 150 mm of rain during that time.
According to an INMET statement, "it is vital to stress that the forecast volumes of rain may cause fresh interruptions in places already affected previously." In Brazil, the storms have caused damage to over 1.9 million individuals as well as hundreds of thousands of displaced people, many of whom are currently residing in makeshift shelters. More than 140 persons remain unaccounted for.
On May 9, 2024, Katiane Mello and her husband James Vargas departed from their flooded Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, house.
Images of the terrible weather phenomenon have been shown throughout the globe, including pictures of a horse that needed to be rescued after becoming stranded on a rooftop for several days. The cat was saved on Thursday by military personnel in Sao Paulo. The horse, who has taken to the social media moniker Caramelo, was put under sedation before being put aboard a boat as part of the rescue, according to state-run Agencia Brasil.
It had been trapped on the roof in the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil for four days, with floodwaters encircling it, in the town of Canoas. The minute Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva learned of the horse's rescue, he captured on camera and shared it on X. Since the floods in Rio Grande du Sol, more than 2,000 animals—including dogs, cats, chickens, and pigs—have been rescued, according to state-run news outlet Agencia Brasil.
The storms have also swamped Uruguay. Without mentioning if there were any injuries, the national emergency system reported on Wednesday night that more than 1,300 people had been forced to flee their homes and thousands more were without power. There is a rising fear that the vacant stores and homes could be used by gangs. Forty-one of the individuals detained for offences connected to the devastating floods are believed to have looted establishments. Six were accused of abusing women sexually while they were in shelters, according to Agencia Brasil.
El Niño, a natural climate phenomena that warms Pacific seas and typically brings heavy rainfall to southern Brazil, has been connected to the record rainfall. In addition, long-term global warming—mainly brought on by humans burning fossil fuels—has made the region's harsh weather worse.
The southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, was formerly a peaceful farming area, but in recent years, there have been numerous instances of extreme weather. The state administration estimates that reconstruction will cost 19 billion Brazilian reals, or $3.7 billion US. Recent state satellite images depict entire communities' worth of roads submerged under water, an airport runway underwater, and a football field inside a massive stadium.
No comments