Floods in Brazil have killed at least 55 people and forced nearly 70,000 people from their homes

The situation is “dramatic” and “absolutely unprecedented”, according to the governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The floods which have devastated southern Brazil for several days have driven some 69,200 people from their homes, according to authorities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. After earlier mentioning 57 deaths, civil defense reported a death toll of 55 in bad weather on Saturday, May 4 in the evening. She said seven other deaths are under investigation. “investigation”. The floods also left 74 missing and 107 injured.

The situation is “dramatic” And “absolutely unprecedented“, declared Saturday Eduardo Leite, governor of the state. Nearly 320 localities in Rio Grande do Soul are affected and a million homes are deprived of water. A large part of these municipalities find themselves isolated, roads having been cut off by floods or landslides, and communications disrupted.

Rescue operations continue on Sunday

The authorities gave orders to evacuate certain neighborhoods of Porto Alegre, a metropolis with some 1.4 million inhabitants, located at the confluence of several rivers. With the rising waters of the Guaiba, the emblematic river of southern Brazil, flooding has hit the city hard, where the airport has been closed since Friday. The river level reached 5.09 meters on Saturday, surpassing the historic record of 4.76 meters reached in 1941.

Sunday “will be a key day for relief operations”, warned the Brazilian Minister of Communication, who came to the scene with other members of the government. Fearing for “supply” And “the production line” of the state, Governor Eduardo Letite called for a “Marshall plan” to rebuild the region. According to Brazilian weather services, the rains were decreasing on Saturday, but were expected to continue for another 24 to 36 hours.

Rio Grande do Sul has already been hit several times by deadly bad weather, notably in September, when 31 people died after the passage of a devastating cyclone. According to experts, these extreme weather phenomena have increased in frequency and intensity with global warming.