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 have received information that fifteen bodies have been found in the commune of Muçum, which brings the death toll to twenty-one,” he said at a press conference, lamenting “the worst death toll for a weather event” in his area.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed “solidarity” with the victims and assured that the federal government “stands ready to help” in Rio Grande do Sul.
More than 50,000 people from around 60 towns have been affected by the torrential rains, which according to local authorities have caused “landslides and floods” in this state located on the border with Uruguay and the United States. ‘Argentina. More than 3,700 people had to leave their homes.
The governor said 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. Already in June, another cyclone killed sixteen people in the same state of Rio Grande do Sul.
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 last twenty-four hours. According to the local news site GZH, the flooding of the Taquari River covered more than 85% of the territory of Muçum, a small town of 5,000 inhabitants where fifteen bodies were found, and some people had to be rescued on the roof of their houses. “There are still missing, the toll could increase,” warned Mayor Mateus Trojan at the microphone of Radio Gaucha. “The city of Muçum as we know it no longer exists,” he lamented.
In the municipality of Ibiraiaras, a couple died when their car was swept away by the current when they were crossing a bridge.
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. About 9.5 million of Brazil’s 203 million people live in areas at risk of flooding or landslides.
