Gramado and part of Porto Alegre may be flooded as a result of the heavy rains that have hit Rio Grande do Sul since last Sunday, April 28th. A Civil defense issued an alert to residents of these regions and other locations that are at risk.
In PoA, flooding must occur in the South Zone of the city because of the high of Lake Guaíba —caused by rain. Until 8:30 pm this Thursday, 2nd, it reached levels equal to the tragedy of November 2023, in which it reached 3 meters and 43 centimeters. The expectation is that the water level will rise even further.
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Pedro Camargo, hydrologist at the Rio Grande do Sul Situation Room, stated that Lake Guaíba should exceed 4 meters in the early hours of this Friday, 3rd, due to the rains still forecast for the region.
“Our projections still indicate that it will exceed the 1941 flood,” he said. That year, the lake reached 4 meters and 76 centimeters. “The forecast is that it will reach 5 meters later this Friday afternoon.”
The expert highlighted that the populations living in the South Zone of Porto Alegre, Barra do Ribeiro, Guaíba, Eldorado do Sul and the Guaíba Islands will be the most affected.
“The region that goes from the airport to approximately Shopping Barra Sul has a flood containment system and, therefore, will not be affected in a very significant way”, he added.
Governor Eduardo Leite highlighted that 5 dams in Rio Grande do Sul are in a state of attention due to the rains. Among them is Dam Blang, on the Caí River, in São Francisco de Paula — also responsible for energy generation.
With the possibility of the dam breaking and consequently increasing the level of the Caí River, Civil Defense ordered the evacuation of 6 regions. Among them, the tourist attraction of Gramado.
Read also: “Leite says that Rio Grande do Sul is experiencing the ‘worst event’ in history”
“Aneel is monitoring so that the emergency action plan is applied and continues on course. The agency has a map of the areas that could be affected by flooding and the bodies are being informed”, said Leite.
Civil Defense ordered residents of Gramado, São Francisco de Paula, Canela, Nova Petrópolis, Vale Real and Feliz to evacuate their homes at risk of flooding.
