In the past seven days, over 75 people died and 103 are missing amid massive floods in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state, according to the media reports.
The officials added that over 155 people were injured, while damage from the rains forced more than 88,000 people from their homes. Around 16,000 took refuge in schools, gymnasiums, and other temporary shelters.
The floods left a wake of devastation, including landslides, washed-out roads and collapsed bridges across the state. Operators reported electricity and communications cuts. More than 800,000 people are without a water supply, as per the civil defence agency, which cited figures from water company Corsan.
A rescue team pulled an elderly man in critical medical condition into a helicopter from a remote area in the Bento Goncalves municipality, as per footage from military firefighters. Torrents of brown water poured over a nearby dam,
On the evening of Saturday, residents in the town of Canos stood up to their shoulders in muddy water and formed a human chain to pull boats carrying people to safety, as per a video footage.
The Guaiba river reached a record level of 5.33 metres (17.5 feet) on Sunday morning at 8 am local time, surpassing levels seen during a historic 1941 deluge, when the river reached 4.76 metres.
‘I repeat and insist: the devastation to which we are being subjected is unprecedented’, state Gov Eduardo Leite said. Previously he had said the state will need a kind of marshall plan to be rebuilt.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Rio Grande do Sul for a second time on Sunday, accompanied by Defense Minister Jose Mucio, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Environment Minister Marina Silva, among others.
The leftist leader and his team surveyed the flo
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