A storm has devastated the southern state of Rio Grande Sul, the latest in a string of extreme weather events.
Authorities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul said on Tuesday that more bodies are being found as flood waters recede. Governor Eduardo Leite said that about 60 cities were affected by the storm.
“Since dawn, we saw that [the water] was going to flood [our house], and we were putting things on top of the table, on top of the wood stove, but it didn’t help,” Luana Da Luz, a resident of the town of Passo Fundo, told the Reuters news agency.
Estimates for the number of people forced from their homes vary. The Associated Press estimates 1,650 have been displaced, while the news agency AFP cited a higher statistic: 3,700.
In addition to the 21 lives lost in Rio Grande do Sul, one death was confirmed in the neighbouring state of Santa Catarina, according to Reuters.
Massive floods due to heavy rains in Nova Bassano of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 🇧🇷 (04.09.2023)
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Tuesday’s cyclone is the latest in a string of extreme weather events to heap misery on Brazil, underscoring the risks of storms driven to greater frequency and intensity by climate change.
In June, a cyclone in southern Brazil killed 13 people and displaced thousands from their homes. In February, landslides and flooding triggered by torrential rainfall killed at least 65 people in the state of Sao Paulo.