The death toll from tremendous flooding in southern Brazil has reached 100, the local civil defense agency said, as emergency crews continued to search for dozens of missing people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly 400 municipalities have been affected after days of heavy rains swamped the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The floodwaters injured hundreds of people and forced 160,000 others from their homes as of Wednesday, while the state civil defence authority said 128 people were still missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brazil\u2019s national centre for natural disasters said the southern part of the state was under \u201chigh risk\u201d of more floods throughout the day. It said rainfall was expected to restart, and although it was not expected to be significant in volume terms, water levels are already high in many places and the soil is saturated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many residents have no access to drinking water or electricity \u2013 or even the means to call for help with telephone and internet services down in many places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State Governor Eduardo Leite warned earlier this week that the human toll was likely to rise as \u201cthe emergency is continuing to develop\u201d in the state capital of Porto Alegre and other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only two of the six water treatment plants in Porto Alegre \u2013 home to about 1.4 million people \u2013 were functioning, the mayor\u2019s office said on Tuesday, and hospitals and shelters were being supplied by tankers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised that there would be \u201cno lack of resources\u201d to meet the needs of residents. \u201cWe understand the difficult financial situation faced by Rio Grande do Sul,\u201d he said at an event in Brasilia, adding he wanted to make sure the state would get \u201ceverything it is entitled to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe still don\u2019t know the exact dimension of the floods, that will only be clear to us when the water levels return to normal,\u201d Lula said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 15,000 soldiers, firefighters, police and volunteers were at work across the state to rescue those trapped and transport aid. The Brazilian navy also was expected to send its NAM Atlantico vessel \u2013 Latin America\u2019s largest \u2013 to Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday with two mobile water treatment stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Gasometro, a part of Porto Alegre popular with tourists, the water continued to rise on Wednesday, complicating rescue efforts. \u201cYou can only cross on foot or by boat. There is no other way,\u201d 30-year-old Luan Pas told the AFP news agency next to a street turned into a stagnant, smelly river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another Porto Alegre resident, Adriana Freitas, said she had \u201clost everything.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s sad when we see the city, our house, in the middle of the water,\u201d Freitas told Reuters.\u201c It seems like it\u2019s over, that the world has ended.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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