Heavy rains put South region under emergency state

The mayor of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, declared a state of emergency in the city on Sunday (Oct. 18) following the local catastrophe Wednesday (14) caused by the heavy rains that have swept Brazil's southernmost state since the beginning of last week.

The rain poured into the Guaíba River that runs across the city, causing its second worst-ever overflow. The floods are wreaking havoc in the poorer areas of the city, and more rain and high winds lie ahead on Tuesday (20). Disaster has hit nearly 147,000 people throughout the state, with 39,000 homes devastated. One hundred municipalities have reported incidents and about 1,790 households are still displaced.

In the neighboring state up north, Santa Catarina, the Emergency Management Service is on alert for further rain forecasts in several municipalities as of Wednesday (21), but they should be slightly milder than in the past few weeks. Flooding and landslide hazards are expected to recede in the state in the coming days.

After rising above their emergency levels, the rivers in the municipalities of Taió, Laurentino, and Rio do Sul slowly began to sink during the weekend. But the Itajaí River in Ituporanga still retains a warning status having risen from 1.40 to 1.84 meters.

Translated by Mayra Borges