Brazil storms spark floods and cause hydroelectric dam to collapse
Brazil storms have sparked floods and caused a hydroelectric dam to collapse, with at least 29 people dead and 60 missing.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the country’s south on Thursday, where floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains have killed 29 people, with the death toll expected to rise.
Authorities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have declared a state of emergency as rescuers continue to search for more than 60 people reported missing among the ruins of collapsed homes, bridges and roads.
Storm damage has affected nearly 150 municipalities in the state, also injuring 36 people and displacing more than 10,000.
Part of the structure of the hydroelectric dam ’14 de Julho’ located between the town of Cotipora and the city of Bento Goncalves has also collapsed on Thursday, raising the level of water in the Taquari river.
An aerial view shows a flooded area in the region of Guaiba Islands, in Porto Alegre, Brazil May 2, 2024
People trapped on the roof of a house by heavy rains are rescued in Cruzeiro do sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, May 2, 2024
People walk in a flooded area next to the Taquari River during heavy rains in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024
The 14 de Julho dam dam in Rio Grande do Sul partially collapsed due to the floods
Aerial view shows a flooded area of Capela de Santana, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on May 2, 2024
A handout photo made available by the Government of Rio Grande Do Sul shows rescue workers searching for survivors in the floods caused by heavy rains in Rio Pardinho, Brazil, May 1 2024
An aerial view shows flooded areas in Encantado city, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on May 1, 2024
The downpour started on Monday and was expected to last through Friday. In some areas, such as valleys, mountain slopes and cities, more than six inches of rain fell in 24 hours, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology, known by the Portuguese acronym INMET, on Tuesday.
Governor Eduardo Leite said Rio Grande do Sul was dealing with ‘the worst disaster in [its] history’, and he added: ‘We are living a very critical moment in the state.’
‘With the deepest pain in my heart, I know it will be even more,’ the governor said of the death toll.
President Lula, who has blamed the torrent on climate change, arrived in the town of Santa Maria in the morning with a delegation of ministers and held a working meeting with Leite and other officials to coordinate rescue efforts, the government said.
The president promised ‘there will be no lack of human or material resources’ to ‘minimize the suffering this extreme event… is causing in the state.’
The federal government, he added, ‘will be 100 percent at the disposition’ of state officials.
Central authorities has already made available 12 aircraft, 45 vehicles and 12 boats as well as 626 soldiers to help clear roads, distribute food, water and mattresses, and set up shelters, a press statement said.
Residents and a dog are evacuated from a flooded area in the city center of Sao Sebastiao do Cai, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, on May 2, 2024
Debris piles up on a bridge over the Pardinho River after heavy rains in Sinimbu, in the Vale do Rio Pardo region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on May 1, 2024
A flooded road after heavy rains in Encantado city, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on April 30, 2024
An aerial view shows flooded areas in Encantado city, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on May 1, 2024
Rescue workers stand near a flooded area next to the Taquari River during heavy rains in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024
An aerial view shows flooded areas in Encantado city, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on May 1, 2024
Aerial view of a flooded road after heavy rains in Encantado city, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on April 30, 2024
Aerial view shows a flooded area of Capela de Santana, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on May 2, 2024
Electricity poles and trees felled by wind and heavy rains lie on street in Sinimbu, in the Vale do Rio Pardo region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on May 1, 2024
View of a flooded area next to the Taquari River during heavy rains in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024
Brazil storms have sparked floods and caused a hydroelectric dam to collapse, with at least 29 people dead and 60 missing (pictured: flooded area in Rio Grande do Sul)
Chairs lie amid mud and debris inside a house partially destroyed by heavy rains in Sinimbu, in the Vale do Rio Pardo region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on May 1, 2024
As the rains continued, forecasts warned the state’s main Guaiba River, which has already overflowed its banks in some areas, would reach an extraordinary level of three meters (9.8 feet) by Thursday and four meters the next day.
Entire communities in Rio Grande do Sul state have been completely cut off as persistent rains have destroyed bridges and blocked roads, and left towns without even telephone or internet services.
READ MORE: Moment 4-year-old girl is rescued from Brazil mudslide after 16-hours
Rescuers and soldiers have been scrambling to free families trapped in their homes, many stuck on rooftops to escape rising waters.
‘I came here to help people, to get them out of the flooding because it is very dangerous. The current is very strong,’ said fisherman Guilverto Luiz, who was helping rescue efforts in Sao Sebastiaio do Cai, about 70 km from Porto Alegre, the state capital.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this… it’s all under water,’ said Raul Metzel, a 52-year-old machine operator in the municipality of Capela de Santana.
Authorities have urged people to avoid areas along state highways due to a risk of mudslides, and those who live near rivers or on hillsides to evacuate.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without access to electricity and drinking water, while classes have been suspended state-wide.
On Wednesday, the state’s deputy governor, Gabriel Souza, said damages have been estimated at £16million.
People walk on a roof in a flooded area next to the Taquari River during heavy rains in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024
A handout photo made available by the Government of Rio Grande Do Sul on 02 May 2024 shows floods caused by heavy rains in Santa Maria, Brazil, May 1 2024
A handout photo made available by the Government of Rio Grande Do Sul shows people wading through the floods caused by heavy rains in Rio Pardinho, Brazil, May 1 2024
Jefferson Abreu Teles, resident of Quilombo neighborhood, rests after choosing to stay at his flooded house in Sao Sebastiao do Cai, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil on May 2, 2024
This handout picture released by the Brazilian Presidency shows a woman being assisted by members of the Air Force after being rescued in a helicopter from a flooded area of Rio Grande do Sul State, at the Santa Maria Air Base in southern Brazil, on May 2, 2024
An aerial view shows a flooded area in the region of Guaiba Islands, in Porto Alegre, Brazil May 2, 2024
Firefighters rescue a man and his dog from a flooded area at the city center of Sao Sebastiao do Cai, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil on May 2, 2024
Mayor Sandra Backes of Sinimbu said the situation in her town was ‘a nightmare.’
‘Sinimbu is like a war zone, completely destroyed… All the stores, businesses, supermarkets – everything is devastated,’ she said in a video posted on Instagram.
Elsewhere, in Santa Cruz do Sul, lifeguards used boats to transport residents, many of them children, to safety.
The region’s rivers had already been swollen from previous storms.
Weather across South America is affected by the climate phenomenon El Nino, a periodic naturally occurring event that warms surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region.
In Brazil, El Nino has historically caused droughts in the north and intense rainfall in the south.
This year, the impacts of El Nino have been particularly dramatic, with a historic drought in the Amazon. Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change.
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