Death toll from Brazil rains climbs to 83, thousands displaced

A drone view shows a flooded city center after people were evacuated in Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Renan Mattos

By Leonardo Benassatto and Andre Romani

CANOAS, Brazil (Reuters) -Heavy rains battering Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed at least 83 people, authorities said on Monday, while more than 100 were still missing.

The storms have affected more than two-thirds of the nearly 500 cities in the state, leaving about 130,000 people displaced, the state civil defense authority said.

Flooding from storms have destroyed roads and bridges in several cities, while triggering landslides and the partial collapse of a dam at a small hydroelectric power plant.

“I am 72 years old and this is the first time I see this,” said Flavio Rosa, a resident of Canoas, a town of some 350,000 people that was among the hardest hit. “I’ve seen other floods, but nothing like this.”

A drone view shows boats with volunteers searching for people isolated at houses at the flooded neighborhood of Mathias Velho in Canoas, at the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

Weather conditions improved on Monday, but showers are expected to return at lower volumes later this week and could pick up again between May 10 and 15, according to local weather forecaster MetSul Meteorologia.

A drone view shows boats with volunteers searching for people isolated at houses, at the flooded neighborhood of Mathias Velho in Canoas, at the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

“The hydrological and meteorological scenarios are not at all favorable in the short and medium term,” it said. “Despite improvements in parts of the state, some areas will remain under severe conditions for a very long time.”

Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite has emphasized that the death toll should still substantially increase as rescue workers gain access to more regions.

The state’s civil defense said 111 people were still missing, a number that had been increasing in the last few days. On Sunday evening, it had reported at least 78 deaths and 105 missing people.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Rio Grande do Sul on Sunday with most of his cabinet, and said bureaucracy would not stop the government from reconstructing the state.

In Brasilia, Lula presided over a cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss what would be needed for reconstruction work “as soon as everyone is rescued and the water recedes,” he said on social media.

A drone view shows boats with volunteers searching for people isolated at houses, at the flooded neighborhood of Mathias Velho in Canoas, at the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

Businesses have been severely hit, with meatpacker lobby ABPA saying 10 pork or poultry plants were fully or partially halted.

Oil regulator ANP temporarily lowered mandates for the blend of biofuels into gasoline and diesel in the state as local ethanol and biodiesel supply was affected. Petrobras’ Canoas refinery was still supplying fossil fuel, it said.

State capital Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho International Airport, one of Brazil’s busiest, had its operations suspended indefinitely, operator Fraport said.

(Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto in Canoas and Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; writing by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Chang)