At least thirteen people died and four others are still missing after a cyclone struck between Thursday and Friday in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, which also claimed thousands of victims, said announced Sunday, June 18 the local authorities.
“The number of dead is now thirteen and the search is continuing”, announced on Twitter the civil protection of this border state of Uruguay and Argentina, whose capital is Porto Alegre. The number of missing was however revised downwards, from twenty on Saturday to four on Sunday, all in the city of 8,000 inhabitants of Caraa, the most affected and located on the coast, 90 kilometers from Porto Alegre.
According to local media, which broadcast images of a car swept away by strong winds in a cemetery, a four-month-old baby is among the dead.
In Sao Leopoldo, 246 millimeters of rain in eighteen hours
“The water came up to our waists inside the house. Thank goodness the firefighters arrived quickly and got us into canoes. It looked like a nightmare,” a resident of the city of Sao Leopoldo told the Estadao newspaper, which did not give her name. Other people were evacuated by helicopter.
A total of 3,700 residents saw their homes damaged, while a total of 697 residents had been evacuated from risk areas in anticipation of the cyclone between Thursday and Friday. State Governor Eduardo Leite traveled by helicopter to the hardest hit areas on Saturday, accompanied by relief workers.
In Sao Leopoldo, 246 millimeters of rain fell in eighteen hours, “a level never seen in the history” of this city of 240,000 inhabitants, said the mayor of the city, Ary José Vanazzi.
In Caraa, where the situation is worrying, a community center has been transformed into a hostel to accommodate the hundreds of victims. “The situation in Caraa is of deep concern to us. It is fundamental that we can (…) quickly map the main affected areas and identify those in need of assistance,” said Leite, quoted in the statement.
According to him, state firefighters have already assisted 2,400 people in areas affected by the cyclone. “Our main objective is first to protect and save lives. Rescuing isolated people, locating the missing and helping families,” Leite said.
Brazil has been hit by numerous deadly weather events in recent years, made worse by climate change according to experts. At least 65 people died in February in floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in the state of Sao Paulo (Southeast).
The effects of such weather events are all the more devastating in a context of uncontrolled urbanization: approximately 9.5 million of Brazil’s 215 million inhabitants live in areas at risk of flooding or landslides.