Flooding in the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has killed at least 170 people with at least 276 people injured and at least 130 people have gone missing. Along with at least 230,000 people being displaced and at least 1 million people have been affected. There are also currently around 1,000 firefighters working on rescue missions. Luckily around 46,000 people have been saved.
The river recently reached a record high level of 17.4 feet beating the previous record of 15.6 feet, local officials stated.
This is also causing water treatment facilities to fail, 5 out of 6 water facilities aren’t working, removing clean water from the people. The flooding has caused other severe disruptions, including food shortages and medical emergencies. Medical emergencies are rising as entire towns remain submerged and access to essential services becomes increasingly difficult.
Fernando Haddad, the Finance Minister of Brazil, recently rolled out a plan worth almost $10 billion on Thursday, to help millions of people affected by the floods.
The rain stopped for a little, but returned later, interrupting rescues. Storms are also a huge problem with AP News stating, “Storms were expected in the state on Wednesday evening, with hail and wind gusts reaching up to 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph), according to the National Meteorology Institute’s afternoon bulletin. And the institute forecasts a cold front this weekend with additional rains, to be particularly intense in the state’s north and east.”
Rio Grande do Sul is going through a terrible flood with many buildings submerging. The New York Times stated, “Brazil is grappling with one of its worst floods Torrential rains have drenched the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, home to 11 million people, since late April and have triggered severe flooding that has submerged entire towns, blocked roads, broken a major dam and shut down the international airport until June.”
As the flooding continues, many more people are getting displaced, hurt, or killed, along with houses and buildings are getting destroyed. With the rain ongoing and having no end, people persist and do not give up.