(Brasilia) Five people died and 18 are missing after heavy rains hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, the regional government announced on Tuesday.
The bad weather affected 77 municipalities in the state, around a hundred people were evacuated from their homes and some 200 others were directed to emergency accommodation, according to the press release from the regional institution.
“The federal government will join the efforts of the state and municipalities to overcome this difficult moment, a reflection of climate change that is affecting the planet,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X after speaking with the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite.
The alert is still in order, as the weather conditions are expected to get even worse.
“In the coming hours, the volume of precipitation is expected to remain high […] All rivers are at levels above alert thresholds,” the Rio Grande do Sul government said in a separate statement.
At the end of March, heavy rains in southeastern Brazil caused the deaths of 25 people in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo.
The south and southeast of Brazil are currently affected by the arrival of a cold front after an extreme heat wave.