Rescuers frantically evacuated people stranded yesterday by devastating floods in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It was reported that 90 people died, survivors are desperately looking for food and basic supplies, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
On the outskirts of El Dorado do Sul, 17 kilometers from the state capital Porto Alegre, many people are sleeping by the roadside and told a Reuters reporter they had nothing to eat. Entire families move on foot with backpacks and shopping carts overflowing with belongings.
„We have been without food for three days and I just got this blanket. I'm with people I don't even know, I don't know where my family is," said a young man who identified himself as Ricardo.
Flooding has hampered rescue efforts, and dozens of people are still waiting to be evacuated by boat or helicopter from damaged homes. Small boats criss-crossed the flooded city yesterday in search of survivors.
The state Civil Defense Agency said the death toll had risen to 90 with four other deaths under investigation, 131 people still missing and 155,000 homeless.
The torrential rains that began last week have caused rivers to overflow, flood entire cities and destroy roads and bridges.
The rain is expected to stop on Thursday, but then continue through the weekend.
Climate experts attribute the extreme rainfall in Rio Grande do Sul to a heat wave associated with the El Niño phenomenon, which warms the waters of the Pacific Ocean and brings rain to southern Brazil; a weaker cold front with rain and storms coming from the Antarctic and unusual warmth in the Atlantic Ocean is raising humidity.
Global warming is exacerbating these phenomena and intensifying the effects between such systems, making the weather unpredictable, said Marcelo Schneider, a researcher at the National Meteorological Institute Inmet.
In the center of Porto Alegre, a city of 1.3 million people, streets are under water after the Guaiba River burst its banks due to record water levels.
Residents of Porto Alegre faced empty supermarket shelves and closed gas stations, with shops where mineral water was sold in limited quantities per customer to reach more people.
Trucks carried water to hospitals and shelters for accommodation. The floods also affected the electricity supply to a total of over 1.4 million subscribers.
Nearly half a million people were left without power in Porto Alegre and outlying towns as power companies cut power for safety reasons to flooded neighborhoods. The National Electricity System Operator ONS said five hydroelectric plants and their transmission grids were down due to the heavy rain.
The city's airport, whose apron is under water and has suspended all flights since Friday.
In addition to destroying critical infrastructure, torrential rains and flooding submerged grain crops and killed livestock, disrupted the soybean harvest and halted operations at numerous meat processing plants.
The Port of Rio Grande, a major grain export port, however, is operating normally, state port officials said. But the main access roads are impassable, disrupting grain deliveries to the port.