The death toll from a series of catastrophic floods in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has risen to at least 83, the state’s civil defense unit said Monday (6).
A further 276 people are reportedly injured and at least 111 people are missing, while at least 121,000 people have been displaced, according to the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul.
The disaster has affected more than 850,000 people in 345 municipalities, destroying homes, roads and bridges.
Imminent risk
The government of Rio Grande do Sul reported Sunday (5) that the total number of dams with an imminent risk of collapse due to heavy rains has risen to six in the state. On Saturday, only two “required measures to preserve lives.”
In all, 18 dams in the state have some level of fragility. In addition to the six dams in the most critical conditions, another five are on “alert level,” when “anomalies demand measures to preserve safety.”
There are also seven dams on “attention level,” when “anomalies do not compromise safety in the short term, but require monitoring, control, or repair over time.”
How the flooding started?
Rio Grande do Sul has been increasingly hit by extreme weather events in recent years, and at least 54 people died in the state in September after it endured a sub-tropical cyclone.
The climate crisis, caused primarily by humans burning fossil fuels, is supercharging extreme weather around the world, making many events more intense and more frequent.
In Rio Grande do Sul, a continuously and torrential rain started on April 27. One of the main reasons for so much rain in such a short time is the heat wave over the Midwest and Southeast of Brazil. This system is blocking the advance of cold fronts that form in the south and east of Argentina, keeping Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina susceptible to areas of instability responsible for so much rain.
Fonte: Agência Brasil and CNN