SAO PAULO, Brazil – The dying toll from heavy rains that devastated Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state rose to 31 on Wednesday, native authorities mentioned, as an extratropical cyclone batters the area, flooding houses and swelling rivers.
Video obtained by Reuters confirmed homes within the small city of Mucum submerged by rising water, whereas streets and rivers had been flooded. Nearby cities reminiscent of Lajeado and Roca Sales have additionally been severely affected.
The floods in Rio Grande do Sul had been the newest in a sequence of such disasters to have lately struck Brazil, the place greater than 50 folks had been killed in Sao Paulo state earlier this yr after huge downpours brought on landslides and flooding.
The colonial-era metropolis of Petropolis close to Rio de Janeiro and Bahia state additionally suffered comparable disasters lately, in addition to Santa Catarina, a state neighboring Rio Grande do Sul the place a further sufferer was confirmed on Tuesday.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva mentioned on Wednesday he had spoken to Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite to supply the federal authorities’s full help for the state to “face this crisis.”
Lula despatched two ministers to the state to supervise search and rescue efforts and mentioned Vice President Geraldo Alckmin would even be “on standby” to journey there.
Weather forecaster Climatempo mentioned that although showers had stopped on Tuesday, they had been anticipated to return to Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday and Thursday earlier than dissipating by Sunday, with the state nonetheless on alert for floods.
“A combination of lower air pressure and the accumulation of warm humid air will again generate heavy clouds over Rio Grande do Sul, which will cause more heavy rain,” Climatempo mentioned in an announcement.
Rio Grande do Sul is residence to some 10.9 million folks and hosts a number of industries, along with being among the many prime grain-producing states within the nation. It borders Uruguay and Argentina. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
