Heavy rains leave 5 dead and 18 missing in southern Brazil May 1st, 2024

Amazonia child in a flood

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Five people have died and 18 have been reported missing due to torrential rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, regional authorities said on Tuesday.

The bad weather affected 77 municipalities across the state, with almost 100 people forced to evacuate their homes and another 200 taken to shelters, the authorities said in a statement.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on social media that he had spoken with the state's governor, Eduardo Leite, and offered assistance.

"The federal government will join the efforts of the state government and municipalities to overcome this difficult moment, which is the result of climate change affecting the planet," the president wrote on X.

With the deteriorating weather conditions, the authorities were scrambling to rescue people isolated by the floods.

"In the coming hours, the volume of rainfall is expected to remain high... All monitored rivers are at levels above their alert limits," the Rio Grande do Sul government said in a statement.

Torrential rains at the end of March in southeastern Brazil left at least 25 people dead in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.

Southern and southeastern Brazil were hit by a cold front that followed a wave of extreme heat.