The death toll from what authorities are calling southern Brazil’s worst climate disaster has increased to 90, following intense rains that caused widespread flooding in the Rio Grande do Sul state. The disaster displaced over 155,000 people and led to the closure of the main airport in Porto Alegre, Brazil’s fifth-largest city.
Images from the Porto Alegre airport, one of the busiest in Brazil, showed its main terminal completely flooded, with a cargo plane parked in a large body of water alongside partially submerged boarding stairs. At least 90 people died, 361 people were injured, and 131 are missing, with over 48,000 people now living in shelters. Governor Eduardo Leite described it as the state’s “biggest ever climate catastrophe.” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the region to oversee rescue operations.
“This is one of those events that will go down in history,” said Governor Leite, who declared a state of emergency in 397 out of 497 towns in the state after death of 90 people. Porto Alegre, the state capital, was among the hardest-hit cities, as the Guaíba River reached record-high levels, surpassing even the historic 1941 floods.
The devastation in Porto Alegre has left the city without water, electricity, or food supplies, according to local reports. A local journalist, Rodrigo Lopes, posted a video of himself paddling through the flooded streets in a canoe, describing the unusual silence in an area usually bustling with activity.
The flooding has disrupted major transportation routes, blocking four key highways, and affected major football stadiums, leading to game cancellations. The state’s transport secretary, Juvir Costella, advised people to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary, stating, “The whole of Rio Grande do Sul is chaos.”
Overall, about 1.3 million people have been impacted by the week-long torrential rain. A local photographer who visited the devastated Vale do Taquari municipality described scenes of complete destruction, with houses appearing as if they had been torn apart by a child.
Governor Leite called for a comprehensive reconstruction plan akin to the Marshall Plan, while avoiding blame or political conflict. However, criticism is mounting over the lack of investment in flood prevention, particularly in Porto Alegre, which reportedly spent nothing on flood prevention in 2023. Erika Hilton, a prominent left-wing politician, stated that while the floods were unavoidable due to their severity, proper investments could have reduced the extent of the damage and loss of life.
Meanwhile, authorities warned that the floodwaters were likely to spread to other areas as residents continued to be evacuated, with more storms and heavy rainfall predicted for the southern part of the state.
