Credit, REUTERS/Renan Mattos
Photo caption, There are thousands of people waiting for rescue in neighborhoods of Porto Alegre, according to the city hall of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul6 May 2024
Updated 4 hours ago
Porto Alegre City Hall stated this Tuesday (7/5) that it needs help from “any vessel” to rescue thousands of city residents who are still waiting for help in completely flooded neighborhoods in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
Porto Alegre was especially hit due to the overflow of Lake Guaíba, whose water level is 5.22 meters, four meters above the volume considered normal, according to the city’s Integrated Service Coordination Center.
“We appeal to anyone who has any vessel that can help [nos resgates]. Jet skis, boats with motors, and even boats without motors, because they can be pulled by others”, stated the vice-mayor of Porto Alegre, Ricardo Gomes (no party), in a press conference this Tuesday afternoon (7/ 5).
According to the city hall, the situation is worse in two neighborhoods: Humaitá and Vila Farrapos, where the water level rose between Monday and Tuesday.
During a press conference, Mayor Sebastião Melo (MDB) also stated that only three of the eight water treatment plants are operating in the city: Belém Novo and São João, the latter of which was reconnected this Tuesday. It is estimated that 80% of the population of Porto Alegre is without water supply.
Melo stated that “there is the possibility of reconnecting two other stations, but we still don’t know if this will happen today or tomorrow.”
He also said that 16 tanker trucks are circulating around Porto Alegre, with the aim of supplying water mainly to hospitals and nursing homes for the elderly.
The mayor also informed that “all events” are suspended in the city, in addition to advising businesses not to resume activities in parts of the city that are flooded.
Classes in public schools are suspended until at least next Friday.
“I hope that private companies also follow this path,” said Melo.
Across Rio Grande do Sul, 159 thousand people had to leave their homes and 48.7 thousand of them are living in shelters.
The state government also estimates that 1.4 million people were affected by the extreme weather event. There are 372 injured and 131 missing.
Credit, Isaac Fontana/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Cyclone alert
On Monday (6/5), Climatempo issued a warning about an extratropical cyclone forming near the coast of Argentina, near the province of Buenos Aires.
This system will not pass over Rio Grande do Sul, but its presence will favor an increase in wind intensity across the southern region of Brazil.
Furthermore, according to meteorologists, it gives rise to a new cold front that will reinforce instability once again across Rio Grande do Sul, causing the return of rain in the center-north of the State.
Thunderstorm conditions and heavy rain are expected, especially in the center-south, west and northwest of Rio Grande do Sul.
Although the cyclone is in the ocean, the predicted winds associated with it could reach speeds of 60 to 80 km/h – even if it is not raining.
In regions at risk of storms, winds can reach speeds close to 90 km/h, according to Climatempo.
On Sunday (5/5), the federal government had already warned that the cold front could become a concern.
On Wednesday, the temperature is expected to drop to up to 10°C in some areas of the state, according to the Southern Military Command.
The command, which is participating in the operation to help the victims, stated that the idea is to speed up work until this Tuesday, as the cold front will worsen the conditions for evacuating people, in addition to increasing the risk of hypothermia in people waiting rescue in the open or in the rain.
Climatempo meteorologists also state that the water level situation in the State’s rivers remains delicate due to the flooding in recent days.
And, with the increase in gusts, water may once again be transported to many regions of the State.
Airport closed indefinitely
Authorities are working to reestablish transport services and routes.
- Salgado Filho airport, in Porto Alegre, is closed indefinitely. Fraport, the company responsible for administration, advises passengers to contact their airline to reschedule or refund tickets to or from Porto Alegre.
- Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines) informed that its associates Gol, Latam and Voepass canceled all flights to/from Porto Alegre until Friday (10/5). Furthermore, the association announced that these companies are making flights with donations to the State.
- The airports in the cities of Passo Fundo, Caxias do Sul, Pelotas and Santo Ângelo are operating, but may “be impacted by weather conditions”, according to Abear.
- The Gaúcha Highway Company announced that most of the road sections that were blocked due to the landslides have now been released.
- The government of Rio Grande do Sul announced the investment of R$117.7 million for the reconstruction of roads.
- There is a lack of electricity in 451,000 points in the State, according to a report released on Tuesday morning (7/5). There are around 649 thousand people without access to water. Telephone and internet operators are also without service in dozens of municipalities.
- The government estimates that 790 schools were affected — that is, they are damaged, used as shelters or have transportation or access problems. These teaching units are spread across 216 municipalities in the State.
Dams under monitoring
According to the Rio Grande do Sul government, this indicates that “measures must be taken to preserve lives”.
Among these measures is the removal of families from areas that could be affected if a rupture occurs. The number of families in this situation was not reported.
This survey is carried out by the government through the Secretariat for the Environment and Infrastructure (Sema), the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) and the National System Operator (ONS).
One of the six dams in an emergency situation, located between the municipalities of Bento Gonçalves and Cotiporã, recorded a partial failure on Sunday.
According to the government, there are still four other dams in a state of alert. This means that they present “anomalies that pose a safety risk” and require maintenance to ensure that the situation does not worsen.
The group responsible for this assessment also reported that there are 13 dams in a state of attention. These are structures that have anomalies, but that do not compromise short-term safety. They require monitoring, control or some repair.
Credit, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Photo caption, Arena do Grêmio, in Porto Alegre, completely flooded
Reconstruction plans
In an interview with journalists on Saturday (4/5), the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB), stated that the serious situation caused by the floods in the State will require the adoption of a “Marshall Plan”.
The Marshall Plan was the American strategy of investing billions of dollars in rebuilding Allied Europe after World War II.
“We will need absolutely exceptional measures. Rio Grande do Sul will need a Marshall Plan, absolutely extraordinary measures. Anyone who has already been a victim of tragedies cannot be a victim of lack of assistance and bureaucracy,” the governor told the press.
Alongside President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), on Sunday, Leite stated that this plan will also have to involve climate resilience strategies, which allow the State to resist global climate extremes.
On Monday, the governor updated the assessment during a meeting with the State Council.
“We are at a time of managing chaos, as from now on we will have to deal with many dimensions of the impact of the floods across the State. In addition to continuing with the rescues, we will have the developments on the various fronts of this, which is the biggest catastrophe that Rio Grande do Sul has already faced it,” he said.
Still on Sunday, Lula visited the State to discuss the next steps in responding to the tragedy.
“We need to stop chasing misfortune (…) and act in advance” to prevent tragedies, said Lula.
The president stated that the federal government will help with the recovery of state infrastructure – and that state bureaucracy will not hinder reconstruction efforts.
“Brazil owes a lot to Rio Grande do Sul”, added Lula, mentioning the state’s agricultural strength.
“If he has always helped Brazil, now it’s time for Brazil to help Rio Grande do Sul.”
The Minister of Transport, Renan Filho, stated that an additional R$1 billion will be released for the recovery of federal highways due to the rain.
The government also released more than R$580 million in parliamentary amendments for the State, most of it for the health area.
Credit, Reuters
Photo caption, President Lula (PT) flew over the areas affected by the rains on Sunday (5/5)
What explains the rain in RS?
Meteorologists interviewed by BBC News Brasil explain that the intense rains recorded in Rio Grande do Sul in recent days are the result of a combination of three main factors:
- Presence of a trough (intense wind current) operating in the region, resulting in very unstable weather;
- Presence of the humidity corridor coming from the Amazon, which increased the intensity of precipitation;
- Presence of a heat wave in the central region of the country
“This hot air mass over the central area of the country blocked the cold front that is in the southern region, preventing it from advancing and spreading to other locations. The combination of these factors causes this instability to remain over the state, causing rain intense and continuous”, explains Dayse Moraes, meteorologist at Inmet.
In addition, the period between the end of April and the beginning of May 2024 is still influenced by the El Niño phenomenon, which is responsible for warming the waters of the Pacific Ocean, contributing to areas of instability over the State.
This combination of several factors at once is considered rare by experts.
The catastrophic rains in the South are directly related to the heat wave recorded in the Central-West and Southeast regions, where temperatures are around 5°C above average this autumn.
“With the intensification of global climate change, extreme weather events will be more frequent and intercurrent”, adds Rafael de Ávila Rodrigues, professor and climatologist at the Institute of Geography at the Federal University of Catalão (UFCAT).