Satellite image shows devastation from floods in Brazil | Brazil

The amount of water from the devastating floods that are affecting southern Brazil is visible in a satellite image released this Tuesday by the European Union’s Earth observation program, Copernicus. According to this program, the image taken on May 6th by the Sentinela-2 satellite shows the flooded areas around Porto Alegre.

Floods in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul caused the death of more than 80 people, with dozens of people injured and missing. More than 120 thousand people are homeless.

According to information released by the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul, cited by Lusa, the floods affected more than 850 thousand people living in 345 of the 496 municipalities in the state which, according to local authorities, have registered some type of problem caused by the rain since the beginning of last week.

Floods destroyed roads and bridges in several regions of the state. The storm also caused landslides and the partial collapse of a dam at a small hydroelectric plant. The regional government of Rio Grande do Sul declared a state of calamity, a situation recognized by the central government. According to Brazilian media, the mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastião Melo, recommended that residents of the Cidade Baixa and Menino Deus neighborhoods leave the region. The warning was made on Monday afternoon, after water began to rise in the area.

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, traveled to Rio Grande do Sul on Sunday, his second visit to the region since the start of the floods, accompanied by most of the Government (including the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva) and promised that there will be no bureaucratic obstacles to sending aid.

This Brazilian state has a population of 11 million people and has been affected by extreme weather events, which are amplified by climate change and the climate phenomenon El Niño.