The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 29 on Thursday night, with another 60 people missing, according to the state’s civil defense agency.
The agency had said in its previous report, as of midday, that 13 people were dead and 21 missing, a figure slightly higher than Wednesday.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva traveled to the state on Thursday to meet with local authorities and express his solidarity.
“Everything within our government’s power will be done to meet the needs of the people who are being affected by these rains,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Operators reported power and water outages across the state, and officials detailed numerous incidents of flooded roads, landslides and collapsed bridges as water levels in rivers and streams rose sharply. Part of the structure of a hydroelectric dam gave way on Thursday. According to the civil defense agency, more than 10,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
The downpour began on Monday and was expected to last until Friday. In some areas, such as valleys, mountain slopes and cities, more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology, known by the Portuguese acronym INMET, reported Tuesday.
“The current event will be the worst climate disaster our state has ever faced,” the governor said. Eduardo Leite said on X late Wednesday afternoon. “We are experiencing a very critical moment in the state.”
The climate in South America is affected by the El Niño climate phenomenon, a periodic natural event that warms surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region. In Brazil, El Niño has historically caused droughts in the north and heavy rains in the south.
This year, the impacts of El Niño have been particularly dramatic, with a historic drought in the Amazon. Scientists say extreme weather is occurring more frequently due to human-caused climate change.