The governor of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, confirmed this Thursday the partial failure of a dam located between the cities of Cotiporã and Bento Gonçalves, which are among the areas affected by heavy rains.
“We received information about the rupture of the right abutment of the dam of the 14 de Julio hydroelectric plant, which is in the municipality of Cotiporã (…) As the previous section of the dam and the next one were almost at the same level, the effect will not be devastatingof a flood, but the river will continue to flow freely,” explained Leite in a published live on social networks.
Live update on the situation in RS: https://t.co/eEDzqJSdCO
—Eduardo Leite (@EduardoLeite_) May 2, 2024
“We did everything possible to avoid the rupture, but with the volume of water, We have not been able to access with helicopters or bring technicians to avoid this rupture.which will have a hydrological response effect, raising the level of the Taquari River,” he added.
Leite declared on Wednesday night a state of public calamity for a period of 180 days in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The Companhia Energética Rio das Antas (Ceran), which manages the dam, reported in a note that it detected “the partial rupture of the right section of the 14 de Julio hydroelectric dam, due to the continuous increase in the flow of the Antas River and the heavy rains that “They have arrived in the state of Rio Grande do Sul since Tuesday (30).”
According to the average Locally, the mayor of the city of Bento Gonçalvez, Diogo Segabinazzi Siqueira, reported that a wave two meters high reached an area of the city and passed to other municipalities.
The Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul has already confirmed that the storms left 13 dead, but the average Locals cite data from the Fire Department and the Military Brigade (BM) that confirm another 11 deaths, raising the probable number of fatalities to 24.
Civil Defense also reported that 67,860 people were affected by the rains. Twenty-one people are still missing. In total, 147 cities in Rio Grande do Sul recorded flooding, collapses of barriers, bridges and landslides.
The same organization issued another note asking the inhabitants of the cities of Santa Tereza, Muçum, Roca Sales, Arroio do Meio, Encantado, Colinas and Lajeado to leave the risk areas, generating fears about the storm.
The regional government of Rio Grande do Sul had already warned of an “extreme hydrological risk” in the next 24 hours in much of the state and advised the population to avoid the vicinity of rivers, whose flow continues to increase due to the rains. and seek refuge in a safe place.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, visited this Thursday the city of Santa María, another area affected by the storms, and stated that the Government will do “everything possible to help municipal and state governments to remedy the damage to thousands of families”. .”
Rio Grande do Sul, with a population of 11 million people, has been repeatedly affected in the last year by the El Niño climate phenomenon, which causes heavy rains in the south of the country.
Last September, extreme weather events caused 54 deaths in the region.
Source: Observadora
