Brazilian state reels after its worst-ever cyclone disaster – “You have to escape. If you stay there, you die.”
By George Wright
6 September 2023
(BBC News) – Torrential rain and winds caused by a cyclone have left at least 27 people dead in southern Brazil, with more flooding expected.
The governor of Rio Grande do Sul said it was the state’s worst-ever weather disaster.
Thousands have been forced from their homes, officials said.
In Mucum, a town of 5,000 people, hundreds had to be rescued from their rooftops as 85% of the town was flooded, local media report.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the federal government was ready to help.
“Where there is a problem, the federal government will be there to save people from these problems,” he said.
Eduardo Leite, governor of Rio Grande do Sul, told a news conference that 15 more bodies had been found in Mucum on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 21.
More than 300mm (11 inches) of rain hit the state in less than 24 hours, triggering floods and landslides, officials said.
“There are still people missing,” Mucum Mayor Mateus Trojan told Radio Gaucha.
“The death toll might climb higher. The town of Mucum as we knew it no longer exists.”
Rescue workers have been using helicopters to reach areas cut off by flooding.
“There are many people who lost much more, but here at home I have nothing left,” she told Reuters news agency.
Luana Da Luz, from Passo Fundo, was rescued by firefighters.
“We saw it [water] was going to fill everything since dawn,” she said. “We were already putting things on top of the table, on top of the wood stove, but it didn’t help.”
Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
In February, at least 40 people were killed in flooding and landslides in Brazil’s São Paulo state. while last year at least 100 people died as torrential rain triggered landslides and torrents of mud near the city of Recife in the country’s north-east.
Brazilian state reels after its worst cyclone disaster
Cyclone batters southern Brazil, death toll from floods hits 36
By Eduardo Simões and Gabriel Araujo
6 September 2023
SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – The death toll from heavy rains in southern Brazil rose to 36, local authorities said on Wednesday, as a tropical cyclone battered and soaked the region, flooding homes and swelling rivers.
Video obtained by Reuters showed rising water flooding streets and rivers and submerging houses in the small town of Mucum, in Rio Grande do Sul state. Nearby cities such as Lajeado and Roca Sales were also hit severely.
Dominguez Fontana, a 74-year-old sawmill worker who escaped the Mucum flooding, said nothing could be salvaged.
“When the water was coming, I escaped to the highway,” he explained. “You have to escape. If you stay there, you die.”
Rain stopped on Tuesday but weather forecaster Climatempo forecast more on Wednesday and Thursday before showers dissipate by Sunday, with the state still on alert for floods.
The Rio Grande do Sul floods are just the latest recent natural disasters in Brazil. More than 50 people were killed in Sao Paulo state this year after massive downpours caused landslides and flooding.
The colonial-era city of Petropolis near Rio de Janeiro and Bahia state has suffered similar disasters, as well as Santa Catarina, a state neighboring Rio Grande do Sul where an additional victim was confirmed on Tuesday.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had spoken to Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite to offer the federal government’s full support.
Lula sent two ministers to oversee search and rescue efforts and said Vice President Geraldo Alckmin would also be “on standby” to travel to the hard-hit Rio Grande do Sul state, home to about 11 million people.
Cyclone batters southern Brazil, death toll from floods hits 36
