Heavy rains have caused flooding in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state, with the death toll rising to at least 78 and more than 115,000 people displaced, local authorities said on Sunday.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Rio Grande do Sul on Sunday morning with most of his cabinet to discuss relief and reconstruction efforts with local authorities.
“Bureaucracy will not stand in the way of restoring our country’s greatness,” Lula told a news conference.
“This is a war scenario that requires post-war measures,” added the state’s governor, Eduardo Leite.
According to state civil protection authorities, 105 people were reported missing on Sunday, compared with about 70 the day before, and the death toll could still rise significantly. It also said it was investigating whether four other deaths were related to the storm.
Floods in Brazil cause serious damage; heavy rains cause mudslides, killing at least 57 people and displacing 70,000 people | Pictures
Flooding from storms over the past few days has affected more than two-thirds of the nearly 500 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina, displacing more than 115,000 people, according to authorities.
Flooding destroyed roads and bridges in several cities. Rainfall also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a small hydroelectric power plant dam.
More than 400,000 people were without power Sunday night and nearly a third of the state’s population was without water, authorities said.
In Porto Alegre, the state capital, Lake Guaíba burst its banks and reached its highest level on record, according to the state geology department. Porto Alegre International Airport has suspended all flights since Friday.
In the city of Canoas, near Porto Alegre, Julio Manichesque, 76, who had been on the roof of the house where he had lived for 52 years since Friday, was later killed Rescued by volunteers.
“I’ve never seen so much water,” Manichiske said.
Many volunteers also risked their own safety during the rescue, using boats, motorboats and kayaks to carry out rescues.
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Fabiano Saldanha, 30, said he and three friends had used motorboats to rescue about 50 people on the islands of Porto Alegre since Friday.
“When we entered the street, the only thing we heard was ‘Help,’ ‘Help,'” Saldanha said.
Pope Francis said he was praying for the people of the state during his weekly address to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sunday.
“May the Lord receive the dead and comfort their families and all those who had to leave their homes,” the pope said.