Porto Alegre, Brazil –
The mayor of a major city in southern Brazil asked his inhabitants on Tuesday to comply with his water rationing decree, given that some four-fifths of the population lack running water, a week after major floods that have left the At least 90 dead and more than 130 more people are missing.
Efforts continued to rescue people trapped by floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, while more rain was forecast in the region until next week. The capital, Porto Alegre, has been virtually isolated, with the airport and bus station closed and main roads blocked due to flooding.
Floods in Brazil are among the extreme weather events seen around the world.
Yoga teacher María Vitória Jorge’s apartment building in the center of Porto Alegre is flooded, so she will leave it behind, having withdrawn around 8,000 reais (US$1,600) from her savings to rent an apartment for she and her parents elsewhere in the state.
“I can’t shower at home, wash dishes or even have drinking water,” Jorge, 35, said in his car as he prepared to travel. He only had a gallon of water for the 200-kilometer (125-mile) trip to the city of Torres, which has so far been unaffected by the flooding.
Five of Porto Alegre’s six water treatment facilities are not operating, and Porto Alegre Mayor Sebastião Melo decreed on Monday that the water will be used exclusively for “essential consumption.”
“We are experiencing an unprecedented natural disaster and we must all help,” Melo told reporters. “I’m taking tankers to the football fields and people will have to go there to get bottled water. I can’t get them to go from house to house.”
The most urgent need is drinking water, but food and personal hygiene products are also in short supply. Other Brazilian states are mobilizing trucks with donations bound for Rio Grande do Sul.
On Tuesday there were long lines and empty shelves in supermarkets in Porto Alegre. Some people have been trying to buy bottled water since the weekend, and when they were able to find it, their purchases were limited to two five-liter (1.3-gallon) bottles.
Public health experts say there is also a growing risk of disease as much of the region remains submerged, warning that cases of dengue and leptospirosis, a bacterial disease in particular, could rise sharply within days.
On Tuesday, Adriano Hueck was trying to recover medications stored in a friend’s warehouse, which is partially flooded.
“If we can keep some of it, there’s still a chance it could be useful in hospitals,” Hueck, 53, said, then pointed toward another part of the city. “My house is somewhere there. Now you can’t even see the ceiling.”
Like Jorge, the yoga teacher, Rio Grande do Sul residents who can flee do so, amid fears of shortages and disease. However, many find it difficult to leave Porto Alegre as the main access roads are blocked by floods. The city’s airport and main bus terminal are filled with water and closed for the foreseeable future.
Near the airport, about 100 people from a nearby poor neighborhood set up tents on the road, hoping to return to their shacks in small boats to try to save some of their belongings. A few pieces of meat roasted on improvised grills.
The rain has stopped for now, but an approaching cold front will bring heavier rain starting Tuesday night, primarily in the southern part of the state, according to the National Meteorological Institute. Rainfall could exceed 150 millimeters (nearly six inches) early Wednesday.
On Monday night, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul. Eduardo Leite issued an alert for several towns near the enormous Patos Lagoon. Flood waters in Porto Alegre and other cities pass through the lagoon to the sea.
“The water level will rise and affect them,” he said in a video broadcast on his social media channels. “Please believe the alerts and help us save lives. Let us reduce the damage so we can rebuild together.”
The metropolitan region of Porto Alegre is one of the largest in Brazil and is home to around four million people.
Damage caused by the rains has already forced more than 150,000 people to leave their homes. Another 50,000 have taken refuge in schools, institutes and other temporary shelters.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, visited Rio Grande do Sul for the second time on Sunday, accompanied by the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, among others.
Officials said Monday they are concerned about the risks of hypothermia, as the temperature is expected to drop to 10 C (50 F) on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Melo asked for more blanket donations.
And it’s not just residents who are at risk.
“Our personnel have been wet for five days, shivering from the cold, awake all night, in poor sanitary conditions, because we share the same facilities with the displaced,” said General Hertz Pires do Nascimento, commander of Brazil’s army. southern region, he told reporters.
During Mass at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis said he was praying for the state’s population.
Security is another concern. The Rio Grande do Sul public security secretariat said in a statement that police will reinforce operations to prevent looting and theft. Brazil’s national guard is mobilizing to the state to reinforce security.
“This morning they even stole a boat from the people working in the rescue. Jet skis and houses were looted. “This is deplorable and must be denounced,” Paulo Pimenta, Lula’s spokesman, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The flooding disaster is also likely to affect the South American country’s food supply. Rio Grande do Sul produces 70 percent of a Brazilian staple: rice.
“With the rains, I think we have definitely delayed the harvest in Rio Grande do Sul. “So, if it is necessary to balance production, we will have to import rice, import beans,” Lula said in a radio interview on the public station from Brazil.
Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.