Local officials reported on Sunday that severe flooding in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul has resulted in at least 66 fatalities. According to the state’s civil defence authority, the count of missing individuals stands at 101, with over 80,000 people displaced from their homes. The authority is also looking into whether an additional six deaths are storm-related.
Around two-thirds of the nearly 500 municipalities within this state, which shares borders with Uruguay and Argentina, have been affected by tempests over recent days. Infrastructure has been severely damaged, with multiple roads and bridges in various regions decimated by the floods. Landslides have been triggered by the rainfall, and a minor hydroelectric power plant dam has partially collapsed.
The country’s President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is set to visit Rio Grande do Sul on Sunday.
– Adapted from a Reuters article, copyright Thomson Reuters 2024.