The preliminary number of people killed in what is already considered the largest climate tragedy in history in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in the south of the country increased this Saturday, May 4, to 56. The tragic figure was published by the Local. Civil Defense on Saturday morning, in its latest assessment of flooding caused by the heavy rain that has continuously lashed the state since last Monday.
The number of deaths confirmed until this Saturday already exceeds the number of deaths recorded last September in the Vale do Rio Taquari region, in the center of the state, when 54 people died during the passage of an extratropical cyclone, making it even now the worst climate tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul. From Friday evening to Saturday morning, rescue teams desperately battling weather and climate woes recovered 17 more bodies, more than the maximum recorded last year.
According to the same partial report from the Civil Protection of Rio Grande do Sul, hundreds of people were less seriously injured throughout the state, but 74 people had to be hospitalized. At least 67 more people are considered missing, but all these figures are preliminary, since there are still completely isolated municipalities that could not be reached even by helicopter, since in some areas of the state the rain is so heavy that flights are prohibited. not allowed.
In addition, the number of residents without a home has increased over the past few hours. According to Friday’s balance, the number of internally displaced persons was 24.2 thousand people, but on Saturday morning the number jumped to 32.9 thousand people.
Unlike what happened with the cyclone last September, which mainly affected the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, rain and floods are now hitting the entire state and causing destruction like never before. The state capital, the elegant city of Porto Alegre, which is home to a very large number of descendants of Germans and Portuguese, is practically flooded because the usually calm Guaiba River has overflowed so much that the water level in the vicinity of its bed has already reached two meters. high, flooding streets and homes, power had to be cut, and the local mayor had already warned that if the waters continued to rise, part of the population of 1.3 million would have to be evacuated.
Author: Domingos Grilo Serrinha This correspondent in Brazil
Source: CM Jornal
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