Eleven people died and four others are missing after a cyclone struck between Thursday and Friday in southern Brazil, which also claimed thousands of victims, authorities said on Sunday. “According to the State Sub-Prefecture for Protection and Civil Defense, 11 people died from the effects of the cyclone,” the government of the state of Rio Grande du Sud, bordering Uruguay and Uruguay, said in a statement. Argentina. A previous toll reported 11 dead.
The number of missing has however been revised downwards, from 20 Saturday to four, all in the city of 8,000 inhabitants of Caraa, the most affected, on the coast, 90 km from Porto Alegre. Local media who broadcast images of a car swept away by strong winds in a cemetery.
“It felt like a nightmare”
“The water rose up to our waists inside the house. Thank goodness the firefighters came quickly and put us in canoes. It felt like a nightmare,” said a resident of the city of Sao Leopoldo to the Estadao newspaper which did not give his name. Other people were evacuated by helicopter. More than 3,700 residents had their homes damaged, and on Sunday around 84,000 people were without electricity. About 700 had been evacuated in advance from risk areas.
State Governor Eduardo Leite began a reconnaissance by helicopter of the most affected areas on Saturday, accompanied in particular by relief workers. He announced that a four-month-old baby who could not receive the care he needed had perished in Sao Sebastiao de Cai. In Sao Leopoldo, 246 mm of rain fell in 18 hours, “a level never seen in the history” of this city of 240,000 inhabitants, underlined the mayor of Porto Alegre Ary Jose Vanazzi.
2,400 people already helped by firefighters
In Caraa, where the situation was worrying, a community center was transformed to accommodate the hundreds of victims. According to Mr. Leite, the state firefighters have already come to the aid of 2,400 people in the areas affected by the cyclone. “Our main objective is first of all to protect and save lives. To rescue isolated people, locate the missing and provide assistance to families,” said Eduardo Leite.
Brazil has been hit in recent years by deadly weather, whose links to climate change are not ruled out by experts. The effects are all the more devastating in a context of uncontrolled urbanization. At least 65 people died in February in floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast). About 9.5 million of Brazil’s 215 million people live in areas at risk of flooding or landslides.