Some 400 municipalities have been affected by the worst natural calamity ever to hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with at least 107 people dead and hundreds more injured.
More than 164,000 people have been forced from their homes in the state capital Porto Alegre -- a city of some 1.4 million people -- and hundreds of other cities and towns.
Many in the region have no access to drinking water or electricity, or even the means to call for help, with telephone and internet services down.
A total of 134 people were reported missing and nearly 1.7 million have suffered damage in flooding the government and experts have linked to climate change.
Rescuers in boats and on jet skis were on Thursday traveling on streets turned into rivers, looking for people trapped in their homes or those reluctant to leave for fear of looting.
In the town of Canoas outside the state capital, a horse was hauled from a rooftop by rescuers in inflatable boats, according to images on local media.
The state's Guaiba River, which runs through Porto Alegre, reached historic levels this week, and officials have warned five dams were at risk of rupturing.
"The focus is still on rescues... but we are working very hard on delivering humanitarian aid," Sabrina Ribas, a spokeswoman for the civil defense force that handles disaster relief, told journalists.
These efforts may be hindered in the coming days, she added, given warnings of new downpours from Friday to Sunday.
- 'Impressive' solidarity -
In a sports complex in downtown Porto Alegre, a makeshift shelter accommodates 450 people on mattresses scattered around the floor, as well as a few dozen dogs and a small pig.
"The solidarity is impressive," school director Resplande de Sa, 57, told AFP at a donation center as volunteers sorted through bedding, clothes and diapers.
Several prisons have sought federal assistance after being left without potable water, according to the non-governmental Criminal Justice Network.
At one jail, prisoners had to be moved to higher floors as floodwaters entered the complex.
The disaster has damaged more than 60,000 homes and devastated the economy of the largely agricultural state, which normally supplies more than two-thirds of the rice consumed in Brazil.
The federal government said Thursday it would set aside $10 billion for reconstruction of the region.
And the Inter-American Development Bank pledged $1.1 billion for infrastructure rebuilding, support to businesses and measures to help people keep their jobs.
The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro was lit up Wednesday night in homage to the victims, with a message appealing for more donations.
Help arrived from outside Brazil as well.
Pope Francis sent 100,000 euros ($107,000) to help care for evacuees, and tycoon Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite company will donate 1,000 terminals to emergency responders "and make usage for all terminals... free until the region has recovered."
Only two of Porto Alegre's six water treatment plants were functioning, the mayor's office said earlier this week, and hospitals and shelters were being supplied by tankers.
The federal government, meanwhile, said it would import 200,000 tons of rice to guarantee supplies and preempt price speculation.
Brazil flooding death toll surpasses 100
Porto Alegre, Brazil (AFP) May 8, 2024 -
The death toll from devastating floods that have ravaged southern Brazil for days surpassed 100 on Wednesday, authorities said, as the search for dozens of missing people was interrupted by fresh storms.
Some 400 municipalities have been affected by the worst natural calamity ever to hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with hundreds of people injured and more than 160,000 forced from their homes.
Many have no access to drinking water or electricity -- or even the means to call for help, with telephone and internet services down in many places.
On Tuesday, state governor Eduardo Leite had warned the human toll was likely to rise as "the emergency is continuing to develop" in the state capital of Porto Alegre and other cities and towns.
Some 15,000 soldiers, firefighters, police and volunteers were at work across the state, many in boats and jet skis, to rescue those trapped and transport aid.
But in Porto Alegre the rains returned on Wednesday, halting evacuation efforts.
The mayor's office urged rescue boats to suspend their activities, citing the risk of electric shocks from lightning and strong winds of over 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour.
Authorities urged people not to return to affected areas due to possible landslide and health hazards.
"Contaminated water can transmit diseases," civil defense spokeswoman Sabrina Ribas warned on Wednesday.
Many people have been loath to leave their homes for the safety of shelters amid reports of abandoned properties being looted.
The National Confederation of Municipalities said about 61,000 homes -- down from an earlier estimate of 100,000 -- had been damaged or destroyed by unprecedented rains and floods in the state, with losses estimated at about 6.3 billion reais (some $1.2 billion.)
Damage to schools, hospitals and municipal buildings amounted to about $69 million.
Porto Alegre is home to about 1.4 million people and the larger metropolitan area has more than double that number.
The state's Guaiba River, which runs through Porto Alegre, reached historic levels and five dams are at risk of rupturing, with two of them in "imminent" danger.
- 'A parallel universe' -
There were queues at public taps and wells as officials warned that the most urgent need for people stranded by impassable roads, collapsed bridges and flooded homes was drinking water.
Only two of Porto Alegre's six water treatment plants were functioning, the mayor's office said Tuesday, and hospitals and shelters were being supplied by tankers.
Helicopters were delivering water and food to communities most in need, while work continued on restoring road access.
The Brazilian Navy was to send its "Atlantic" vessel -- Latin America's largest -- to Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday with two mobile water treatment stations.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed there would be "no lack of resources to meet the needs of Rio Grande do Sul."
In Gasometro, a part of Porto Alegre popular with tourists, the water continued to rise Wednesday, complicating rescue efforts.
"You can only cross on foot or by boat. There is no other way," 30-year-old resident Luan Pas told AFP next to a street turned into a stagnant, smelly river.
Operations at the port of Porto Alegre have been suspended and its international airport indefinitely closed.
The Air Force said the military base outside town will receive commercial flights transporting aid and passengers.
In a rare dry spot in Porto Alegre's historic center, dozens of people gathered around a generator rented by a pharmacy on Wednesday to charge their cell phones.
"This is a parallel universe," said one of them, university professor Daniela da Silva, 30.
The Inmet meteorological institute has warned of more storms with heavy rains and winds in the south of the state and downpours over the weekend in the Porto Alegre region.
Due to climate change, extreme or rare events "are becoming more frequent and more extreme," Jose Marengo, research coordinator at Brazil's National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring (Cemaden), told AFP.
The federal government, meanwhile, said it would import 200,000 tons of rice to guarantee supplies and preempt price speculation. The flooded region supplies more than two-thirds of the rice consumed in Brazil.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extended his condolences in a statement to the people of Brazil, saying that "disasters such as this are a reminder of the devastating effects of the climate crisis on lives and livelihoods."
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