Canada and Brazil hit hard by fire and water

Fires are raging in western Canada and monster floods have already killed some 150 people in Brazil. Relief efforts are overwhelmed and the two powers plunged into crisis. Our correspondents on site describe the situation.

After gigantic fires last summer, Canada is already prey to very large fires in the West of the country. Residents of some localities are forced to leave their homes in the North and British Columbia. For its part, Brazil is facing flooding in the far south of the country. Torrential rains over the past two weeks in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, an important agricultural region, have killed some 150 people, according to a still provisional toll, and caused considerable destruction.

In Canada, the 4,000 inhabitants of Fort Nelson and another village where members of the First Nations live had to find refuge four hours away from their homes or even further south. Several fires covering hundreds of square kilometers are currently devastating the region. A little further east, in Alberta, some of the 68,000 citizens of Fort McMurray located in the middle of the forest have left their homes while a major fire is raging in the area, which has already partially burned certain neighborhoods ago eight years. Not to mention the neighboring province, Manitoba, where a major fire, ignited by lightning, revolves around a village evacuated of its residents.

Fires that start very early in the season. Western Canada has experienced a significant rain deficit for several years and temperatures well above seasonal norms. As a result, the soils are dry and very flammable in spring when the trees do not yet have leaves. In addition to these climatic conditions, there is also another reason, as explained by forest ecology researcher Yan Boulanger.

“Several of these fires, which burned a lot of territory this year, are in fact fires which never really went out last year, which simply spent the winter, under the snow, in the humus, in organic matter.”

Yan Boulanger, researcher in forest ecology

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“And with the benefit of conditions which are now very favorable for spring, these fires have awakened and continued to burn the territory this year quite significantly”, continues the researcher. A headache for emergency services, as fires break out in several places at the same time.

According to climate models, last year’s increase in temperatures and lack of precipitation are likely to occur again this summer. Which leads researcher Yan Boulanger to say that Canadians will have no choice in living with forest fires, particularly in the West of the country. Already towns and villages are planting less flammable plants near homes, and above all residents are becoming more attentive to the risk of fire which can occur at any time. More efforts are also being invested to help firefighters. It should be noted, however, that Canada has a number of air tankers well below its needs.

The ordeal also does not end for the inhabitants of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. Over the past fortnight, flooding has caused widespread destruction, with 90% of the state’s municipalities affected, more than two million people affected and countless infrastructure destroyed.

Soldiers, police officers, government officials, thousands of men and women are mobilized on site, but the emergency services seem overwhelmed by the scale of the task, despite an unprecedented mobilization of civilian volunteers. Beyond rescue operations, cleaning or distribution of water and food, we must also fight against criminals who take advantage of the chaos, while preparing for the risks of illness caused by contact with unclean water. President Lula admitted on Monday that Brazil was not prepared for such a disaster: “It’s a disaster for which we were not prepared. We were not ready for something of this magnitude. We have had floods before, but never in these proportions. The victims, the missing and even the animals that “We see lost or suffering, all this greatly shocks Brazilian society.”

Disaster management is a crucial test for the Brazilian president. The Bolsonarist opposition knows this and discloses numerous fake news to try to undermine the credibility of the government. Worried, Lula brought together all his ministers on Monday for an exceptional meeting on the subject and preferred to cancel a trip to Chile to go there.

In the capital Porto Alegre, the Guaiba River seemed to be receding, giving residents a semblance of hope. But with the return of torrential rains and completely soaked soil, the level is rising and could well exceed last week’s record. Elsewhere in the state, the scenario is similar and landslides remain a major risk. Without stopping completely, the precipitation is expected to be less intense by the end of the week. On the other hand, temperatures will drop and the authorities must manage the 600,000 people who have had to leave their homes, including 81,000 who have found refuge in shelters provided.