After intense rains, which caused serious flooding in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, low temperatures arrived, with forecasts of 5ºC overnight. The rainfall, which has been felt in the state since late April, may have stopped, but signs of destruction remain.

Brazilian authorities describe a “war scenario” in Rio Grande do Sul. What caused the devastating floods?

The latest Civil Defense balance sheet, carried out on Tuesday night, shows 149 dead, 806 injured and 112 missing. There are almost 450 municipalities affected and more than 538 thousand displaced people. In total, authorities estimate that they were affected more than 2.1 million residents in the Brazilian state.

With more than 79 thousand people distributed in 770 shelters throughout the state, the authorities believe that they will have to keep part of these places in operation during the coming months, Beto Fantinel, Secretary of Social Development of Rio Grande do Sul, revealed to the newspaper. Newspaper. The structures should be used to ensure that everyone has a place to stay during reconstruction, especially in cases where there is a total loss of housing.

More than 76 thousand people and 11 thousand animals have already been rescued. The rescue efforts, carried out by more than 27,600 troops, continue but in the city of Porto Alegre, one of the most affected, who refuse to leave their homes. The state capital, bathed by the Jacuí River and Lake Guaíba – which grew almost half a meter this Tuesday – now has completely flooded cars, dead animals in the streets and floating furniture, BBC News Brazil reports..

The BBC reporting team reports on a silent city, interrupted only by the noise of fire boats or the jet skis of volunteers helping with the work. But the approximately 20 residents who still remain in a neighborhood of Eldorado do Sul, 12 kilometers from the capital, Porto Alegre, reject help, despite being completely surrounded by water.

[Já saiu o primeiro episódio de “Matar o Papa”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que recua a 1982 para contar a história da tentativa de assassinato de João Paulo II em Fátima por um padre conservador espanhol. Ouça aqui.]

“I will stay here. There are many robberies. Last night there were shootings. It is a lawless city. I am not going to risk it because there are many robberies,” explains Fábio Meneghetti, one of the residents, to the BBC News Brazil team. The city is a “desert”, And he adds: “I only hear the bullets go by,” alluding to the looting. Fábio prefers to safeguard what little he has left at home.

Listen to the Radio Observador report here

Rio Grande do Sul in “war scenario”

“I have food, I have cookies, I have soup, I have everything,” adds another resident, João Carlos Velasquez Batista, from the unfinished house where he lives. He said he will only leave the house if the water rises to the roof of the second floor of the house. “Only if the river rises five meters. I have an eight-foot trestle, I take off the roof and I go out in a helicopter. But today they don’t accept me.”

So far, Guaíba continues without significantly regressing, even though the rains have stopped. At 04:15 local time and at 08:15 in Lisbon, the water reached 5.21 meters, compared to 5.25 meters at the end of Tuesday night.

Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, will be this Wednesday in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, to announce more support for the state. The newspaper Worth He advances that aid of 600 to 1,200 reais per month should be announced for displaced families, citing sources from the Brazilian government. In the current conversion, the support represents between 108 and 216 euros.

The measure must be added to the OK of about 5,000 reais (900 euros) that the government intends to give to each displaced family.

Porto Alegre airport expected to reopen in September

Floods caused the closure of the Salgado Filho airport in Porto Alegre on May 3. Fraport, the concessionaire that manages the airport, issued a statement saying that operations “remain suspended for an indefinite period.” According G1Operations can only be resumed in September.

Fraport’s note refuted information about a possible upcoming reopening date. For now, the suspension remains in place until May 30. The dealership says it does not yet have an estimate of the damage caused by the floods. Only when the waters recede will there be “conditions to evaluate in detail the impacts on airport infrastructure.”

For now, the sale of plane tickets to and from the airport is suspended.

Brazilian government suspends debt payments in Rio Grande do Sul for three years

Author of a book about the 1941 flood was isolated in a neighborhood of Porto Alegre

The Brazilian press has shared several cases related to flooding in southern Brazil. In one of them, BBC News BrazilIt is told how the journalist Rafael Guimaraens, author of a book about the 1941 flood that affected Rio Grande do Sul, was isolated when the water invaded the apartment where he lived.

Guimarens, 67, recognizes the irony of the situation. He had to leave his apartment in the Menino Deus neighborhood, in Porto Alegre. He is now staying in a friend’s apartment, with his wife, the editor Clô Barcellos.

“This book has an interesting trajectory,” said Clô Barcellos, who saw how the Libretos publishing house’s warehouse was completely flooded. “In 2015 there was a flood in Voluntários [da Pátria, rua onde fica a editora]the water entered and took away only The Flood [de 1941] and other works, Guaíba waters. We even joked that ‘the water is recovering the books.’”