The airport of the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, has closed all its operations at least until May 30, due to the storms that affect the south of the country, official sources indicated this Monday.
In a statement, the company in charge of managing the airport detailed “that there is no forecast for the resumption of operations.”
The rains that have hit the south of Brazil for a week have left at least 84 dead and 111 missing and caused serious flooding in hundreds of cities, including Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders Argentina and Uruguay.
The same situation affected the Salgado Filho airport, in Porto Alegre, whose runways and facilities are completely flooded.
Porto Alegre authorities explained that, for now, planes transporting humanitarian aid to the capital will be able to use the airport in the neighboring municipality of Canoas, although it will not receive commercial flights while the emergency lasts.
The rains, which began to subside this Monday after a week without respite, affected some 840,000 people in 345 municipalities, who suffer from a lack of food, medicine and basic services such as electricity and drinking water.
Data from the local Civil Defense indicate that, of this total, 121,957 people were forced to leave their homes.
Source: Observadora
