The flooded south of Brazil is paralyzed by the new river floods May 14, 2024

The latest official figures show that more than 100 people are still missing in the floods in Brazil (ANSELMO CUNHA)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

The flooded south of Brazil is paralyzed by the new river floods

Rivers in southern Brazil rose again on Monday as flood rescue efforts intensified and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted that the authorities were “unprepared” for a disaster of such magnitude.

More than 600,000 people have been made homeless by the heavy rains, floods, and landslides that have ravaged the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for nearly two weeks.

At least 147 people died and more than 800 were injured in the deluge, and rescuers were searching on Monday in boats and jet skis for 127 people reported missing.

Hundreds of towns and villages and part of the regional capital Porto Alegre - a bustling city of 1.4 million inhabitants - have been under water for days, with streets turned into canals.

“It's a catastrophe we weren't prepared for,” said Lula in a conference call with Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite.

The state remained paralyzed on Monday, with around 360,000 students out of school, the international airport closed and several roads and bridges impassable.

Many farms were also underwater in a region that supplies more than two-thirds of the rice consumed in Brazil. The federal government said it would import 200,000 tons of rice to guarantee supplies and prevent price speculation.

Around 80,000 people have found refuge in schools, sports clubs, and other buildings transformed into makeshift shelters.

The floods are the latest extreme weather phenomenon to hit Brazil, after record forest fires, unprecedented heatwaves, and drought.

The government and experts have blamed the El Nino weather phenomenon, exacerbated by climate change.

The rains subsided on Monday, but new rains over the weekend caused the rivers to flood again.

“This is not the time to go back to the houses in the risk zones,” Leite told residents of the affected areas on Monday.

- 'Endless drama' - Lula postpones state visit to Chile

Lula postponed a state visit to Chile to focus on the disaster and said he would visit the region for the third time on Wednesday.

The president also announced that he would propose suspending payments on Rio Grande do Sul's debt to the state for three years. The plan needs to be approved by Congress.

The Guaiba, an estuary bordering Porto Alegre that overflows when its level reaches three meters (about 9.8 feet), reached an all-time high of 5.3 meters last week and is rising again after receding briefly.

City authorities erected a barrier of sandbags in the city center to try to keep the torrent away from a water pumping station that serves several neighborhoods in the capital.

In Canoas, on the outskirts of Porto Alegre, residents were rescuing what belongings they could from their homes.

“It flooded in October, and now again. This time I've lost everything,” 58-year-old bricklayer Alcedir Alves told AFP.

Leite said that the most affected families will receive the equivalent of around US$400 to “rebuild their lives”.

Brazil's federal government last week pledged around US$10 billion for reconstruction.

“We are living the consequences of an endless drama here in Rio Grande do Sul,” Deputy Governor Gabriel Souza told Globo on Monday.

In Porto Alegre, aid workers continued to deliver food, drinking water, medicine, and clothing - much of it donated - to displaced residents.

This is “the biggest logistical operation in the state's history”, said Leite.

Among those seriously affected are around 80 indigenous communities, according to the Indigenous Missionary Council of Brazil.

The government said it had delivered food parcels and drinking water to 240 indigenous families in the Taquari Valley.

The heavy rains also led to the flooding of the Uruguay River, which flows between Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

The Argentine authorities reported that around 600 people had to be evacuated from the riverside town of Concordia and that the flood waters are likely to rise even further.

Florian PLAUCHEUR

ll/app/sf/tmo/fb/mlr/bfm