More than a million households no longer have access to clean drinking water. Earlier on Saturday it was announced that the number of fatalities had risen to 56. 67 people are also missing.
The authorities decided to evacuate certain neighborhoods of the regional capital Porto Alegre, which has 1.5 million inhabitants. Porto Alegre International Airport has been closed since Friday. Lake Guaíba near the city reached a water level of 4.77 meters on Friday, the highest level ever.
Since last Friday, Brazil’s southernmost state has been plagued by extreme rainfall and storms. The governor has already spoken about the ‘worst climate disaster in the history’ of the state. Roads are cut off by the water and communications are disrupted. The rain is expected to continue until at least Sunday.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the area on Thursday for emergency consultations with the state’s governor. The president committed a battalion of 100 federal first responders to assist. In the area, rescue workers use boats and planes to search for missing people among the collapsed houses, bridges and roads.
