The state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, has been hit by a cyclone, announced Tuesday, September 5 Eduardo Leite, the governor of the state. “Unfortunately, I received information that fifteen bodies were found in the commune of Muçum, which brings the toll to twenty-one dead”he declared at a press conference, lamenting “the worst record for a climatic event” in his region.
In June, another cyclone killed sixteen people in this same state located on the border with Uruguay and Argentina. The governor specified that several dozen firefighters had been mobilized and that “several hundred people” had been rescued. Helicopters were used to evacuate isolated residents, with some roads completely unusable due to flooding.
More than 25,000 people in some 60 towns have been affected by the torrential rains, which caused landslides and floodslocal authorities said in a statement.
More than 300 millimeters of rain
According to Wolnei Wollf Barreiros, Secretary of Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul, more than 300 millimeters of rain have fallen in this state in the past twenty-four hours. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his “solidarity” to the victims and ensured that the federal government “was ready to help” in Rio Grande do Sul.
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, many poor populations live in precarious housing on the hillside.
At least sixty-five people died in February in floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in the state of Sao Paulo. Around 9.5 million of Brazil’s 203 million inhabitants live in areas at risk of flooding or landslides.