Rain returns to flooded southern Brazil, interrupting rescue efforts

By Leonardo Benassatto and Debora Ely

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (Reuters) – Authorities paused rescue efforts in Brazil’s flood-ravaged south on Wednesday because of more rain and the risk of lightning and strong winds that threaten to worsen a catastrophe that has already killed at least 100 people and left more than 163,000 people searching for shelter left behind.

Floods that started last week, caused by unusually heavy rains, have destroyed highways and bridges in Rio Grande do Sul state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.

Evacuees stay in a warehouse after their homes flooded in Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

“We have lost everything,” said Adriana Freitas in the capital Porto Alegre, where the Guaiba River burst its banks and flooded the city’s streets. “It’s sad when we see the city, our house, in the middle of the water. It seems like it’s over, that the world has ended.”

At least 128 people are still missing, the state’s civil protection authority said, urging people living near the Patos Lagoon south of Porto Alegre to leave their homes immediately.

Army soldiers used amphibious armored vehicles to rescue people from flooding in Canoas, just north of the city, where water has reached a depth of about three meters and streets can only be navigated by boat.