The storms do not give rest to Rio Grande do Sul, a Brazilian state that shares borders with Argentina and Uruguay. After 5 days of intense rains, which began on Tuesday of this week, a large part of the Rio Grande do Sul territory is suffering from flooding that led to the collapse of citizen infrastructure. There is a lack of electricity and drinking water, federal and provincial routes are mostly blocked. In Porto Alegre, which is home to 1.5 million Brazilians, almost all neighborhoods are barely accessible by boat. In the historic and commercial center of this capital, the lower floors of large buildings are under water.
The provisional figures indicate a new number of deaths: 57 people who lost their lives have already been identified because of this catastrophe without equivalents in history. This is in addition to the number of missing people, which increased to 67, and the number of injured people, which reaches 74. These are the latest data released by the Civil Defense, which added in its report today the figures of the municipalities of Río Grande affected by the flooding: 60% of cities, large, medium and small, are under water.
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The Salgado Filho international airport stopped operating and there are no accurate forecasts of when it will return to activity. The central bus station of Porto Alegre, for medium and short distances, this Saturday suspended all departure and arrival movements: its ramps and service area were submerged by the flood. The building is located in a region close to Lake Guaíba, which has played a central role in the rising waters; it is enough to point out that it greatly exceeded 5 meters of elevation above its normal level: this rise produced the greatest overflow in avenues and streets. of the capital, without parallel with its own history.
Not even the routes have been spared from the tragedy: the main communication routes to other states were seriously damaged. According to the authorities’ survey, there are 188 stretches completely blocked throughout the road infrastructure.
But what explains the exorbitant duration of this tragedy? The answer is unique: the climate changes that the planet is suffering, due to the misfortunes of humanity itself. The facts are incontrovertible: the annual average temperature in the state of Gaucho is 0.8 degrees warmer than 30 years ago. And the amount of rain: increased 12% compared to that recorded 60 years ago.
The mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastián Melo, had to ask the population to “ration” the water to be consumed. This seems like a contradiction, but according to the mayor himself, six of the four treatment stations are deactivated due to the damage caused by the flood. “Many people are lacking water,” Melo despaired.
In the midst of the drama, there are figures on the destruction suffered by the countryside that do not announce good prognoses. The head of the Federation of Agriculture, Gedeao Pereira, warned that there are large sectors of the agribusiness in a problematic situation; These include pig and poultry farmers, as well as dairy farms. On the one hand, they cannot channel production output, and at the same time the arrival of supplies is obstructed. “The producer cannot bring the milk to the industry, and the pig and chicken farmers cannot obtain the rations to feed the animals. “It is a catastrophic situation.”Pereira despaired.
Agricultural activity represents 40% of the GDP of the provincial state, which is also the producer of 68% of the rice consumed in the country, a central component in Brazilian meals. “For the agricultural sector as a whole, these damages are incalculable. They told me that 50% of the soybeans have not yet been harvested; Meanwhile, the losses are immense for legume and vegetable crops.” Agricultural leaders affirm that for the moment Brazil is supplied with food. “But in the future a sharp price increase may occur.”
Gi