Southern Brazil was exposed to its worst floods in more than 80 years. At least 39 people died

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Heavy rains in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil killed 39 people, while 68 others are still missing, the government civil defense agency announced Friday. Record floods Devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes.

It was the fourth such environmental disaster in one year, following floods in July, September and November 2023 that claimed 75 lives in total.

Statewide flooding has exceeded those seen during a historic 1941 deluge, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. The agency said that water levels in some cities reached their highest levels since records began about 150 years ago.

On Thursday, a dam at a hydroelectric power station between the cities of Pinto Goncalves and Cutipora partially collapsed, and entire towns in the Tacuari River Valley, such as Lajedo and Estrella, were submerged. In the town of Velez, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the state capital, Porto Alegre, a overflowing river washed away a bridge that connected it to the neighboring city of Linha Nova.

Operators reported power, communications, and water outages across the state. More than 24,000 people were forced to leave their homes, according to the Civil Defense Agency.

Without internet, phone service or electricity, residents struggled to provide updates or information to their relatives living in other states. Helicopters constantly flew over the cities as stranded families with their children waited for rescue on rooftops.

Isolite Newman, 58, lives in the city of Lajedo in the Tacuari River Valley, and told the Associated Press that she had never before witnessed a scenario like the one she is experiencing now.

“People were setting up barriers in front of hospitals with sand and gravel. “It felt like a horror movie,” she said over the phone. She added that some people in her area were so desperate that they threw themselves into the streams of water.

Newman’s neighborhood has not been flooded, but it has no running water and she has not showered since Tuesday. She said she collects rainwater in a basin so she can cook. She added that the clothing store she owned in the city’s central area was flooded.

“I don’t even know what it should be like. There should be nothing left.”

Marcelo Cellucci, chief meteorologist at the National Center for Monitoring and Warning of Natural Disasters, told the Brazilian public television network on Friday that the rainfall began on Monday and is expected to continue until at least Saturday.

On Thursday night, Gov. Eduardo Leyte alerted state residents – known as gauchos – of continuing rains and flooding. He added that the situation in Porto Alegre is expected to worsen.

“As a human being, I am destroyed inside, like any gaucho,” he said. But as governor, I am here to stand firm and guarantee that we will not falter. We do everything with focus, attention, discipline and rage, to ensure we get everything done within our reach.”

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva acknowledged the flood victims at a press conference on Friday Along with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Brasilia.