Brazilian authorities confirm 38 deaths caused by rain in the south of the country

In Rio Grande do Sul, the Brazilian state most affected by the storms, the local Civil Defense confirmed 37 deaths in an update updated in the early afternoon. The previous balance pointed to 31 deaths.

A fatal victim was recorded in Santa Catarina this morning, another state in the southern region of Brazil.

The Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul reported 74 injuries and 74 missing people. The same body indicated that around 23,598 people are homeless and that there are another 7,949 people housed in shelters.

In total, 235 of the 496 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul registered some type of problem, which affected at least 351,639 people.

The regional government of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, declared a state of public calamity on Wednesday night for a period of 180 days.

In Santa Catarina, three cities have already declared an emergency situation and, according to local civil defense, 33 municipalities have recorded incidents due to rain.

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, visited the affected region on Thursday with several of his ministers and promised that there will be no shortage of resources to meet the population’s basic needs.

Eduardo Leite assured during the meeting with the President that the focus at this time must be on rescuing people, some of whom had to climb to the roofs of their homes to save themselves.

Storms in southern Brazil have destroyed roads and bridges, causing collapses and flooding since last Tuesday. The forecast is that the storms will continue into the weekend.

The southernmost state of Brazil has been greatly affected by climate change. After suffering problems with a severe drought due to the La Niña phenomenon, last year the region began to be affected by El Niño and recorded four climate disasters caused by extratropical cyclones and storms in less than 12 months. In 2023, three events occurred in June, September and November, causing 75 deaths.

Rio Grande do Sul, with a population of 11 million people, has been hit repeatedly in the last year by the climate phenomenon El Niño, which causes heavy rains in the south of the country.

In September, extreme weather events caused 54 deaths in the region.