International Brazil: 37 killed and dozens missing in worst floods in 80 years

[LeonardoBjj]

More than 23,000 people forced to leave homes after heavy rains in southern Rio Grande do Sul prompt record-breaking floods

Heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed 37 people, with another 74 still missing, as record-breaking floods devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes.

It was the fourth such environmental disaster in a year, following floods in July, September and November that killed 75 people in total.

The flooding statewide has surpassed that seen during a historic 1941 deluge, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. In some cities, water levels were at their highest since records began nearly 150 years ago, the agency said.

On Thursday, a dam at a hydroelectric plant between the cities of Bento Goncalves and Cotipora partially collapsed and entire cities in the Taquari River valley, such as Lajeado and Estrela, were completely overtaken by water. In the town of Feliz, 50 miles (80km) from the state capital, Porto Alegre, a massively swollen river swept away a bridge that connected it with the neighboring city of Linha Nova.

Operators reported electricity, communications and water cuts across the state. More than 23,000 people had to leave their homes, according to the civil defense agency.

Without internet, telephone service or electricity, residents struggled to provide updates or information to their relatives living in other states. Helicopters flew continually over the cities while stranded families with children awaited rescue on rooftops.

The downpour started on Monday and is expected to last at least through Saturday, Marcelo Seluchi, chief meteorologist at the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters, told Brazil’s public television network on Friday.

On Thursday night, Governor Eduardo Leite alerted the state’s population, known as gauchos, about the persistence of rains and floods. The situation was expected to worsen in Porto Alegre, he said.

“As a human being, I am devastated inside, just like every gaucho is,” he said. “But as governor, I am here steadfast and I guarantee that we will not falter. We are doing everything with focus, attention, discipline and outrage, to ensure that everything within our reach is done.”

Weather across South America is affected by the climate phenomenon El Niño, a periodic, naturally occurring event that warms surface waters in the equatorial Pacific region. In Brazil, El Niño has historically caused droughts in the north and intense rainfall in the south.

This year, the impacts of El Niño 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.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/03/brazil-floods-rio-grande-do-sul

 

[LeonardoBjj]

57 Killed After Heavy Rains In Brazil, Dozens Still Missing​

Rio Grande do Sul's civil defense authority said 67 people were still missing and more than 32,000 had been displaced as storms have affected nearly two thirds of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.​

Sao Paulo:
The death count from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 57, local authorities said on Saturday afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.

Rio Grande do Sul's civil defense authority said 67 people were still missing and more than 32,000 had been displaced as storms have affected nearly two thirds of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.

Floods destroyed roads and bridges in several regions of the state. The storm also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam at a small hydroelectric power plant. A second dam in the city of Bento Goncalves is also at risk of collapsing, authorities said.

In Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, the Guaiba lake broke its banks, flooding streets.

Porto Alegre's international airport has suspended all flights for an indefinite period.

Rains are expected in the northern and northeastern regions of the state in the next 36 hours, but the volume of precipitation has been declining, and should be well below the peak seen earlier in the week, according to the state meteorology authority.

Still, "rivers water levels should stay high for some days", Governor Eduardo Leite said on Saturday in a live video on his social media, adding it is difficult to determine for how long.

Rio Grande do Sul is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created a weather pattern with periods of intense rains and others of drought.


Local scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.


Heavy rains had already hit Rio Grande do Sul last September, as an extratropical cyclone caused floods that killed more than 50 people.

That came after more than two years of a persistent drought due to the La Nina phenomenon, with only scarce showers.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/bra...-rains-in-brazil-dozens-still-missing-5589805

 

[LeonardoBjj]

- Deathtoll is confirmed on 75 humans lifes lost(unlike the link). Billions in destruction, several loss on animal life also.

Got friends working there to help. Some people from my class are unable to attend, because got family stuck on here.

Landslides and massive flooding kills dozens in Brazil

Massive flooding and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain in Brazil's southernmost state have killed 55 people, according to local authorities.

Officials say another 74 people are missing in Rio Grande do Sul.

Nearly 25,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes since the storms began last Saturday.

At least half a million were without power and clean water, with further rainfall expected.

Rio Grande do Sul's civil defence said 55 deaths were confirmed as linked to the floods, while another seven deaths are being investigated to ascertain if they are connected.

The extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter than average temperatures, high humidity and strong winds.

More than half of the 497 cities in the state have been affected by the storms, with roads and bridges destroyed in several areas.

The storms also caused landslides and the collapse of a hydroelectric dam near the city of Bento Gonçalves, killing 30 people.

A second dam in the area was also at risk of collapsing due to rising water levels, authorities said.

In Porto Alegre, the regional capital, the Guaíba river broke its banks, flooding streets and submerging some neighbourhoods.

Porto Alegre's international airport has suspended all flights for an "undetermined" period.

One resident said the damage was "heart breaking".

"I live in this area, so I feel sorry for everyone who lives here. It's very sad, and it's regrettable that all this is happening," Maria Luiza told the BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0w03627kq4o

- Fellow brazilians celebrating this catastropher, because people on RS voted to Bolsonaro instead of Lula.

 

[Horse Style]

Local scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.

Do they have data showing a causal link or is it just the usual "blame everything on climate change" schtick?

 

[USA!USA!]

Flooding is always nasty business. Feel for them.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Do they have data showing a causal link or is it just the usual "blame everything on climate change" schtick?

- They can blame on the big Latifúndios also, or anything. Doesnt makes up for the loss of lives, animals or humans lives are lost now.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Flooding is always nasty business. Feel for them.

- It's also happening in Texas also, no?

 

[USA!USA!]

- It's also happening in Texas also, no?

Yes, southeast Texas was hit I believe. I don't know much about it but I saw at least a couple of children died.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Yes, southeast Texas was hit I believe. I don't know much about it but I saw at least a couple of children died.

- A little girl was rescued by a guy on a boat, we call canoas here, they're trying to go to a safe place, when the little girl saw sometyhing floating, she thought it's was a doll and asked the man to get to her, when he grabbed was a little dead baby.

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

My heart goes out to the people of Brazil.

Absolutely devastating

 

[Osculater]

- A little girl was rescued by a guy on a boat, we call canoas here, they're trying to go to a safe place, when the little girl saw sometyhing floating, she thought it's was a doll and asked the man to get to her, when he grabbed was a little dead baby.

 

[djacobox372]

Do they have data showing a causal link or is it just the usual "blame everything on climate change" schtick?

I guess the missed the part of the report that points out there was a worse flood 80 years ago.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Brazil flooding death toll rises to 90 as more than 155,000 people displaced​

At least 361 injured and 131 missing in southern part of country from what governor called his state’s ‘biggest climate catastrophe’

A cargo plane sits on a flooded runway at the airport in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on 6 May 2024. Photograph: Diego Vara/Reuters

The death toll from what authorities call the worst climate disaster ever to strike southern Brazil has risen to 90, after ferocious rain flooded huge stretches of Rio Grande do Sul state, displacing more than 155,000 people and forcing the closure of the main airport in the country’s fifth biggest city.

Photographs of the Porto Alegre airport, one of Brazil’s busiest, showed its main terminal had been completely inundated and a cargo plane parked in an expanse of water next to a pair of semi-submerged boarding stairs.


At least 361 people have been injured and 131 are missing as a result of what state governor Eduaro Leite called his state’s “biggest ever climate catastrophe”. More than 48,000 people are living in dozens of shelters.

“The state is facing a war-like situation,” Leite told reporters on Sunday as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva flew to the region to oversee rescue efforts.

“This is one of those events that will go down in history,” added Leite, who has declared a state of emergency in 397 of his state’s 497 towns and cities.

One of the worst-affected cities is the state capital, Porto Alegre, which sits along the Guaíba river. The waterway hit a record level of 5.33 metres (17.5ft) on Sunday morning – even higher than during historic 1941 floods when it rained for more than 20 days straight.

“Porto Alegre has been devastated, leaving virtually the whole city without its supply of water, electricity and food,” the newspaper O Globo reported on Tuesday, describing “a situation of unprecedented sorrow” in the flooded city of 1.4 million inhabitants.

Local journalist Rodrigo Lopes posted a video in which he appeared to be paddling through usually bustling streets in a canoe, past a flooded shopping centre and bank. “The silence is astonishing in a region that is normally packed with people … and all we can hear is the sound of our boat’s oar,” Lopes said as his vessel moved through the coffee-coloured waters. “The heart of Porto Alegre is wounded,” he wrote.

Four major highways that connect the capital with the rest of the state have been completely blocked while the stadiums of the region’s two biggest football teams, Grêmio and Internacional, have also found themselves underwater forcing the clubs to call for games to be suspended.

“Do not go out on the roads … only if it is absolutely necessary … The whole of Rio Grande do Sul is chaos,” the state transport secretary Juvir Costella told the local broadcaster Rádio Gaúcha.

Across Rio Grande do Sul, an estimated 1.3 million people have been affected by the disaster caused by a week of intense rain, according to local authorities.

A local photographer who visited the Vale do Taquari, a badly-hit municipality about 100km from the capital, described catastrophic scenes of destruction. “The houses looked like toys that a child had pulled apart,” Jefferson Botega told Zero Hora.

Speaking on Sunday, the governor said it was not the time to look for culprits or politicize the crisis and called for a Marshall Plan-style reconstruction package to deal with what he described as a “post war” situation. But there are growing questions over Porto Alegre’s lack of readiness for the flooding and mounting anger over the human toll the rains have taken.


“Porto Alegre did not invest a single penny in flood prevention in 2023,” the local newspaper Zero Hora announced on its front page on Tuesday alongside a photograph of an elderly man in an orange life jacket being rescued from his home after it was swallowed up by more than a metre of brown water.

Erika Hilton, a prominent left-wing politician, said it was obvious that such investments “would not have avoided the tragedy in Porto Alegre – this is an unprecedented climatic event”.

But government inaction had made things worse, she wrote on social media. “[And] this has repercussions. The catastrophe was inevitable but had these investments been made then perhaps fewer people would have lost their belongings, their homes, their lives. And we need to talk about this.”

On Tuesday afternoon, there was little indication that Rio Grande do Sul’s moment of misery was near its end. Authorities warned that the flood water that has overwhelmed the state capital would soon begin moving elsewhere, swamping surrounding areas from which residents were being evacuated. Meanwhile, weather forecasters predicted new storms and heavy rain in the southern section of the state.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/07/brazil-flooding-death-toll-displaced-missing

 

[panamaican]

While I cognitively understand why this is bad, I'm going to say something heartless that I think frequently.

Does it really matter, in nation of 200 million, on a planet of 8 billion, that 37 people, a completely negligible percentage of the population, died in a normal natural disaster?

 

[LeonardoBjj]

While I cognitively understand why this is bad, I'm going to say something heartless that I think frequently.

Does it really matter, in nation of 200 million, on a planet of 8 billion, that 37 people, a completely negligible percentage of the population, died in a normal natural disaster?

- Are you serious?

 

[LeonardoBjj]

TORRES (RS) AND PORTO ALEGRE
Amidst the chaos that has taken over Porto Alegre due to the floods affecting Rio Grande do Sul, residents have fled hastily towards the coast in search of water

The shortage already reaches part of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, which also suffers from the lack of energy and supplies, in addition to the threat of looting.

According to Civil Defense data, 401 of the 497 municipalities in the state – or 80% of the cities in Rio Grande do Sul – have already been affected by the rains. There are 95 deaths, 48,000 displaced (in need of shelter from the government), and 1.4 million affected by the storms.

The floods also hinder the distribution of energy, with 450,000 properties in the dark in the state.

In Porto Alegre, thousands have had to leave their homes due to the risk of flooding, and currently, 85% of the 1.3 million inhabitants are without access to water due to the shutdown of five treatment plants.

The situation could worsen in the coming days, as the forecast is for the return of rain this Wednesday (8th) in parts of RS.

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/inter...-sul-has-mass-exodus-in-search-of-water.shtml

 

[LeonardoBjj]

While I cognitively understand why this is bad, I'm going to say something heartless that I think frequently.

Does it really matter, in nation of 200 million, on a planet of 8 billion, that 37 people, a completely negligible percentage of the population, died in a normal natural disaster?

- I thought real seriius about your post today. And i am surprised that a suposed inteligent form of life took the time to write that. A thing that even the worst trolls hadn't had the bad taste to say. Even when i said i have friends a close people helping and sufering there.

@Sinister @Madmick

 

[panamaican]

- I thought real seriius about your post today. And i am surprised that a suposed inteligent form of life took the time to write that. A thing that even the worst trolls hadn't had the bad taste to say. Even when i said i have friends a close people helping and sufering there.

@Sinister @Madmick

I did preface my post by acknowledging that it was going to be "heartless". Additionally, I stated that I understand why it is bad.

But, to the point I was sharing, some of these events that we read about in the news are of local significance, not national or global significance. I have always felt that the over-reliance of the news on distributing stories of tragedy is bad for society itself.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Disease and hunger soar in Latin America after floods and drought, study finds​

Climate chaos is threatening food production, trade and lives, says World Meteorological Organization

Hunger and disease are rising in Latin America after a year of record heat, floods and drought, a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has shown.

The continent, which is trapped between the freakishly hot Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, probably suffered tens of thousands of climate-related deaths in 2023, at least $21bn (£17bn) of economic damage and “the greatest calorific loss” of any region, the study found.

The climate chaos, caused by a combination of human-driven global heating and a natural El Niño effect, is continuing with devastating floods in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, which have killed at least 95 people and deluged swathes of farmland after the world’s hottest April in human history.

Global heat records have now been broken for 11 months in a row, causing death and destruction across many parts of the planet. Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced some of the worst effects.

In a summary of last year’s toll in this region, the WMO said disasters and climate change, along with socioeconomic shocks, are the main drivers of acute food insecurity, which affects 13.8 million people.

As the climate warms, diseases are spreading across a greater area. The WMO noted that more than 3m cases of dengue fever were reported in the first seven months of 2023, breaking the previous annual record for the region. Uruguay experienced its first cases of chikungunya and Chile widened alerts about the Aedes aegypti mosquito vector.


There were an average of 36,695 heat-related excess deaths each year in the region in the first two decades of this century. Last year’s toll has not yet been calculated, but it is likely to exceed the average given the record temperatures and prolonged heatwaves in many areas.

Mexico had a record high of 51.4C on 29 August, and many areas sweltered in a prolonged heatwave. By the end of the year, 76% of Mexico was experiencing some degree of drought. In October Acapulco was hit by the first ever category 5 hurricane to make landfall on the Pacific coastline. Hurricane Otis killed at least 48 people, damaged 80% of the city’s hotels and left damages calculated at $12bn.

Other areas of Central and South America endured unusually fierce heat and prolonged drought. The Panama Canal had 41% less rainfall than normal, causing difficulties for one of the most important conduits of world trade.

Brazil, the biggest country in Latin America, experienced record winter heat in excess of 41C and severe droughts in the Amazon rainforest, where the Rio Negro recorded its lowest level in more than 120 years of observations, fires raged around Manaus and more than 100 baiji river dolphins died in the hot, shallow, polluted waters of Lake Tefé.

The south of Brazil has repeatedly suffered deadly flooding. At least 65 people died in São Paulo in February 2023 after torrential rains and landslides. Another 48 were killed and 20,000 displaced in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in September after 300mm of rain fell in 24 hours and now the same southern state is deluged once again. Streets have turned to rivers in Porto Alegre, the capital, forcing the international airport to close while the football pitch of the Arena do Grêmio resembles a lake.

Last year, floods also took lives, disrupted business or ruined crops in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia.

Combined with drought, this has hurt agricultural production in one of the world’s most important food production regions. Wheat production in Argentina fell 30% below the five-year average, and a similar loss is expected in the harvest of the grain in the Brazilian state of Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. Some of these losses have been offset by record maize production in other parts of Brazil, but food prices are rising. Overall, Latin America has suffered significant calorific losses, the report said. In countries that are also experiencing political and economic problems, such as Venezuela, Haiti and parts of Colombia, this is creating a food crisis.

The costs in human lives, lost food production and economic damage are expected to rise for as long as humans continue to burn gas, oil, coal and trees, which emit heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.

“Sadly, this is probably only the beginning,” said Prof José Marengo, the lead author of the WMO report and director of the Brazil National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters. “Extreme events are becoming more frequent and the period of return is becoming shorter.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...unger-soar-latin-america-floods-drought-study

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Brazil: Death toll from massive flooding surpasses 100​

Rio Grande Do Sul State Governor Eduardo Leite cautioned that the number of casualties was expected to increase as 'the emergency is continuing to develop' in the state capital of Porto Alegre and other municipalities.

The death toll from devastating floods that have ravaged southern Brazil for days surpassed 100 on Wednesday, May 8, authorities said, as the search for dozens of missing people was interrupted by fresh storms.

Some 400 municipalities have been affected by the worst natural calamity ever to hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with hundreds of people injured and more than 160,000 forced from their homes. Many have no access to drinking water or electricity – or even the means to call for help, with telephone and internet services down in many places.

On Tuesday, state governor Eduardo Leite had warned the human toll was likely to rise as "the emergency is continuing to develop" in the state capital of Porto Alegre and other cities and towns. Some 15,000 soldiers, firefighters, police and volunteers were at work across the state, many in boats and jet skis, to rescue those trapped and transport aid.

But in Porto Alegre the rains returned on Wednesday, halting evacuation efforts. The mayor's office urged rescue boats to suspend their activities, citing the risk of electric shocks from lightning and strong winds of over 80 kilometers per hour.

Authorities urged people not to return to affected areas due to possible landslides and health hazards. "Contaminated water can transmit diseases," civil defense spokeswoman Sabrina Ribas warned on Wednesday. Many people have been loath to leave their homes for the safety of shelters amid reports of abandoned properties being looted.

The National Confederation of Municipalities said about 61,000 homes – down from an earlier estimate of 100,000 – had been damaged or destroyed by unprecedented rains and floods in the state, with losses estimated at about 6.3 billion reais (some $1.2 billion). Damage to schools, hospitals and municipal buildings amounted to about $69 million.


Porto Alegre is home to about 1.4 million people and the larger metropolitan area has more than double that number. The state's Guaiba River, which runs through Porto Alegre, reached historic levels and five dams are at risk of rupturing, with two of them in "imminent" danger.

'A parallel universe'​

There were queues at public taps and wells as officials warned that the most urgent need for people stranded by impassable roads, collapsed bridges and flooded homes was drinking water. Only two of Porto Alegre's six water treatment plants were functioning, the mayor's office said Tuesday, and hospitals and shelters were being supplied by tankers.

Helicopters were delivering water and food to communities most in need, while work continued on restoring road access. The Brazilian Navy was to send its Atlantic vessel, Latin America's largest, to Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday with two mobile water treatment stations. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed there would be "no lack of resources to meet the needs of Rio Grande do Sul."

In Gasometro, a part of Porto Alegre popular with tourists, the water continued to rise Wednesday, complicating rescue efforts. Operations at the port of Porto Alegre have been suspended and its international airport indefinitely closed. The Air Force said the military base outside the town will receive commercial flights transporting aid and passengers. In a rare dry spot in Porto Alegre's historic center, dozens of people gathered around a generator rented by a pharmacy on Wednesday to charge their cell phones.

The Inmet meteorological institute has warned of more storms with heavy rains and winds in the south of the state and downpours over the weekend in the Porto Alegre region. The federal government, meanwhile, said it would import 200,000 tons of rice to guarantee supplies and preempt price speculation. The flooded region supplies more than two-thirds of the rice consumed in Brazil.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extended his condolences in a statement to the people of Brazil, saying that "disasters such as this are a reminder of the devastating effects of the climate crisis on lives and livelihoods."
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/natural-d...ssive-flooding-surpasses-100_6670850_225.html