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Rescuers were on Wednesday scrambling to reach people cut off by record-breaking floods in southern Brazil that have killed at least 95 people and displaced more than 200,000, as more rainfall was set to further hamper aid efforts.
Firefighters, civil defence units and the army struggled to reach those marooned by water in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, some of whom have spent days stuck on the roofs of buildings.
The historic floods followed a deluge of rainfall in recent days, which some scientists have linked with climate change. One monitoring station in Porto Alegre, the state capital, recorded almost 260mm in three days — equivalent to about two months’ average rainfall.
Brazil’s air force has deployed Israeli-designed Hermes 900 reconnaissance drones, equipped with high definition cameras and sensors, which operate alongside helicopter teams to locate and rescue victims.
Volunteers have joined the effort, including people trying to use surfboards and jet-skis to reach people in need of help.
Porto Alegre, which is home to 1.3mn people, has been one of the places worst affected after the Guaíba river broke its banks and flooded the city. The high point of the river reached 5.3 metres, far above a previous record of 4.76 metres in 1941.
State governor Eduardo Leite has called for an aid programme resembling the Marshall Plan that followed the second world war to fix the damage, which he said would only truly become visible once the flood waters receded.
On Tuesday he warned of further bad weather, with a mass of cold air expected to bring more heavy rain and cause temperatures to drop sharply.
“It is already the worst climate disaster in our state, and we need to avoid loss of life at this time,” he said last week.
In the past week, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has twice visited the state — which is home to 11mn people — promising federal aid to rebuild roads and bridges.
Economic damage is so far estimated at about $1bn, according to the National Confederation of Municipalities. Rio Grande do Sul is Brazil’s fifth-largest state economy and is a key producer of agricultural products, as well as a centre for industry.
The state accounts for 70 per cent of national rice production, with 10 per cent expected to be lost because of the floods. Thirty per cent of the state’s 21mn-tonne soyabean harvest is also expected to perish. Lula has said that Brazil will import rice and beans from abroad to prevent food shortages.
The disaster is the fourth such event to roil the state in the past year, following severe floods in July, September and November, which killed dozens.
Stark images from the disaster zone have galvanised a donations campaign across Brazil and abroad. On Tuesday, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the company would support relief efforts.
Pedro Luiz Cortês, professor of environmental science at the University of São Paulo, said the disaster was linked with climate change.
A high pressure zone in the centre of Brazil was caused by abnormal warming in the Atlantic Ocean, he said. This was blocking cold fronts in the country’s south and diverting maritime humidity southwards.
“Rio Grande do Sul is affected by three events that are fuelling the rains: the cold fronts, the humidity coming from the Atlantic and the high pressure dome,” he said. “These rains were caused by this meteorological phenomenon that is caused by climate change, because this warming of the Atlantic is not normal for this time of year.”
The state and federal governments were ill-prepared for such climate emergencies, he added.
Additional reporting by Beatriz Langella
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