New rains that fell early this Thursday, May 23, caused the level of the Guaiba River to rise again and again flood neighborhoods in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which hit in the last two weeks. There was the worst flooding in the region’s history, leaving at least 163 people dead, 72 missing and 647,000 homeless. In addition to the rain, problems with suction pumps and water drainage have also contributed to flooding in other areas of Porto Alegre, where flood levels have begun to recede in recent days.
Around 1 a.m. local time and 5 a.m. in Lisbon, the Guaiba level at the measuring station located in Cais Maua was 3.82 meters, the lowest level since the flood began on April 29. But at 6 a.m. local time, at 10 a.m. in the Portuguese capital, Guaiba was already at a height of 3.96 meters, that is, in just five hours it had risen by 14 centimeters, although the rain was not very heavy.
As the river rose, areas that had already begun to partially emerge from flooding after being inundated for more than 20 days were flooded again, such as Menino Deus, Praia de Belas and Humaita, but not with as much violence as before. Numerous inhabited islands off Porto Alegre, in that part of the river popularly called Lake Guaiba, were also partially flooded again and forced the returning inhabitants to leave these places again.
At the worst moment of the flood, on May 5, the Guaiba River reached a record high of 5.35 meters. As the river begins to flood the city from a height of 3 meters, this means that the water in the streets and avenues of the capital, which is home to almost 1.5 million inhabitants, has reached a height of more than two meters, flooding and devastating thousands of residential, commercial and commercial properties, hospitals, police and fire departments, among other places, and the displacement of tens of thousands of people who had to flee with only the clothes on their backs to save their lives as the waters rose in a matter of minutes.
Author: Domingos Grilo Serrinha This correspondent in Brazil
Source: CM Jornal
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