This Thursday, Rio Grande do Sul reached the mark of 107 people killed following the rains that hit the Brazilian state. The number of deaths was reported by the state Civil Defense in the morning.
The death toll could increase in the coming days, as there are a total of 136 missing, in addition to 374 injured. There is one death under investigation to determine whether, in fact, it was related to the storms.
There are at least 400,000 points without power and 500,000 without water in Rio Grande do Sul following the heavy rains that hit the region over the last week.
Civil Defense also reports that there are 67,542 homeless people, living in accommodation provided by the public authorities, and 163,786 homeless people.
Classes were suspended in the 2338 schools in the state network and more than 327 thousand students were affected. As of this Wednesday, 941 schools were affected, 421 were damaged and 71 were used as shelters.
The tragedy has been compared to a hurricane Katrinawhich in 2005 destroyed the metropolitan region of New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), reached four other North American states and caused more than a thousand deaths.
Health professionals point out similarities between the two tragedies, such as the lack of prevention of natural disasters and the lack of centralized coordination of decisions. Collapse in hospitals, difficulty for healthcare teams to reach their workplaces and shortages of medicines and other resources are other similarities highlighted.
The water level of Lake Guaíba, which flooded the capital Porto Alegre, fell 10 centimeters in the 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday morning. At 6am this Thursday (four more hours in mainland Portugal), according to information from ANA (National Water Agency), the height was 5.04 meters.
This is the lowest level since last Saturday, but at the same time, above the limit. Streets and avenues in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul remain flooded this Thursday morning.
At the same time, the government of Rio Grande do Sul warned on Monday of the risk of flooding in municipalities located on the banks of Lagoa dos Patos. The water that blocks the streets of the metropolitan region flows down the lagoon towards the sea, which can happen quickly or more slowly, depending on the direction of the wind.
The return of rain and strong winds to the Porto Alegre region this Wednesday caused the municipality to suspend the rescue of victims of historic floods. The forecast, according to Inmet, is that the temperature will drop in Rio Grande do Sul this week.
Exclusive PUBLIC/Sheet from S. Paulo
