In Porto Alegre, cockroaches invade downtown streets after flooding

After flooding was recorded in the historic center of Porto Alegredue to the rise in water levels in the Guaíba Riverresidents of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul have also reported the appearance of cockroaches on streets in the region. The insects came out of the sewers and took over the streets and walls of properties.

The level of Guaíba broke a record (5.18 meters) between the night of Friday the 3rd and the morning of this Saturday the 4th. biggest brand ever registered in the capital of Rio Grande do Sulsurpassing the historic flood of 1941, with 4.76 meters.

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O State faces its worst climate disaster, with 55 dead and 74 missing. Another 107 people were also injured. There are difficulties in accessing several locations, which have become isolated, and it is necessary to use boats and aircraft for rescue.

According to a balance released on Saturday night, 317 of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul have already been impacted. The alert situation continues throughout Rio Grande do Sul until this Sunday, the 5th. The storm is now advancing through Santa Catarina and Paraná – there were three deaths in both states.

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With the flood of Guaíbathe Municipal Department of Water and Sewage (Dmae) states that it was necessary suspend operations of four of its six water treatment plants nthis Saturday, the 4th. There are also records of power outages in several areas, Salgado Filho Airport is closed and several land accesses to the capital are blocked.

Throughout the day, Mayor Sebastião Melo (MDB) appealed to residents to leave risk areas and save water. The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB), said that Rio Grande do Sul will need a “Marshall Plan” to rebuild after the disaster, in reference to the support plan led by the United States to rebuild Western Europe after the Second World War, which ended in 1945.

For experts, the geographic location makes Rio Grande do Sul prone to phenomena like this storm. But the intensity and recurrence of these extreme events is worsened by global warming, which makes the Rio Grande do Sul crisis a harbinger of the climate crisis that is expected to worsen in the country.

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In September last year, the passage of a storm accompanied by an extratropical cyclone had already left 54 ​​victims in the Vale do Taquari region (RS).

In Brazil, scientists warn that the rise in global temperatures will cause diverse consequences, such as an increase in drought in the Center-West and the deterioration of the Amazon, which is suffering from deforestation and fires.