Bad weather once again leaves Brazil in mourning. Five people have died and 18 are missing after heavy rains hit the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the regional government announced on Tuesday.
The bad weather affected 77 municipalities in the state, around a hundred people were evacuated from their homes and some 200 others were directed to emergency accommodation.
Lula points to “climate change”
“The federal government will join the efforts of the State and municipalities to overcome this difficult moment, a reflection of climate change which is affecting the planet,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X after speaking with the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite.
The alert is still in order as the weather conditions are expected to get even worse. “In the coming hours, the volume of precipitation is expected to remain high (…) All rivers are at levels above alert thresholds,” said the government of Rio Grande do Sul.
At the end of March, heavy rains in southeastern Brazil caused the deaths of 25 people in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo. The south and southeast of Brazil are currently affected by the arrival of a cold front after an extreme heat wave.