Southern Brazil
There is no end to the floods in Brazil – more than 120 dead
Well over 300,000 people had to leave their homes because of the floodwaters. photo
© Andre Penner/AP/dpa
It’s autumn in the southern hemisphere, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul is drowning in masses of water. People and animals are equally in need.
Another 141 people were missing and 756 injured. Almost 340,000 people had to leave their homes and more than 71,000 were accommodated in emergency shelters.
“We are going through a difficult moment and we are all very affected,” wrote the state’s governor, Eduardo Leite, on X. His government estimates the cost of reconstruction at at least 19 billion reais (3.4 billion euros). President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced an aid package of more than 50 billion reais for the region.
According to the Agência Brasil news agency, almost 90 percent of all cities in the state, which is almost the size of Italy, are affected by the floods. Many communities were cut off from electricity and water supplies. Telephone and internet connections were also interrupted in many places.
It is now autumn in the southern hemisphere of the world and floods occur again and again in the south of Brazil at this time. According to scientists, however, climate change is increasing their frequency and intensity.
Thousands of animals are also in danger
The floods also put thousands of animals in great danger. The newspaper “O Globo”, citing the regional government, reported that the military, police and fire brigade had so far brought almost 9,000 animals to safety. A horse was rescued from the roof of a house on Thursday. According to O Globo, 26-year-old veterinarian Enderson Barreto alone saved at least 400 animals in seven days, including dogs, cats, pigs, horses, chickens and other birds. “This was one of the worst moments of my life,” the veterinarian told the newspaper.
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost of Brazil’s 26 states. It borders Uruguay and Argentina and is comparatively wealthy. In Brazil, its eleven million inhabitants are called Gaúchos, not to be confused with the Gauchos, the South American cattle herders. This year the state also celebrates the 200th anniversary of the beginning of German immigration to Brazil in 1824.