At least 10 people have died in floods caused by torrential rains in southern Brazil, authorities said on Wednesday, as rescuers searched for nearly two dozen missing people.
Floods in Rio Grande do Sul state have displaced about 3,300 people in more than 100 communities, many of whom have been moved to emergency shelters.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced he would visit the region, the governor Eduardo Leite said it was about “the worst disaster in our state’s history.”
Leite said the search for the missing people would continue even though more heavy rain was forecast.
And he appealed for help in the form of people “trained for situations of chaos and war.”
Persistent rains have destroyed bridges and blocked roads, leaving several communities in the state completely cut off.
“We lost everything, everything, all the food, everything we had in the house,” Adriana Salete Gas from the city of Santa Cruz do Sul told local media.
“Our house is two meters high and it is still under water.”
Authorities have urged people to avoid areas along state highways because of the risk of mudslides and to evacuate those living near rivers or on slopes.
Rescuers and soldiers have been working since Tuesday to free families trapped in their homes, many stuck on roofs to escape rising water.
The state’s deputy governor, Gabriel Souza, said damage was estimated at $20 million.
Officials said at least 11 people were injured and nearly 20,000 were otherwise affected by the flooding.
Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts, often in hard-to-reach locations, and the death toll has continued to rise from an initial five reported Tuesday.
Lula wrote on X that he would visit the area on Thursday “to check the situation.”
The president had previously announced that the federal government would send aid to deal with the disaster, which he said was caused by climate change.
– ‘A nightmare’ –
Tens of thousands of people across Rio Grande do Sul are without drinking water, officials said, and phone and internet services were down in at least 60 communities.
AFPTV observed that residents of the small town of Encantado left the area on foot or by motorbike along damaged and mud-caked roads to reach dry land.
About 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, the town of Sinimbu was inundated by water, its streets turning into rivers.
Mayor Sandra Backes said the city was without internet, drinking water and electricity and described the situation as “a nightmare.”
“Sinimbu is like a war zone, completely destroyed… All the shops, businesses, supermarkets – everything is destroyed,” she said in a video posted on Instagram.
In Santa Cruz do Sul, lifeguards transported boats to bring residents, including many children, to safety.
The region’s rivers had already swollen from previous storms, and torrential rains killed at least 25 people in Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo states in late March.
South America’s largest country has suffered a series of extreme weather events recently, which experts say are becoming more likely due to climate change.
The flooding came amid a cold front that hit the south and southeast and followed a wave of extreme heat.
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