The reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul will cost at least 19 billion reais, according to the initial calculation reported this Thursday, 9th, by the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB). In a post published on X (formerly Twitter), the toucan stated that the resources must serve several areas affected by the floods. “I insist: the effect of the floods and the extent of the tragedy are devastating”, he reinforced.
This afternoon, the government should detail the actions designed to address the state’s first needs. In total, 425 of the State’s 497 municipalities were affected by the floods that began on April 29. Since then, 107 deaths have been recorded and another 136 are missing.
And the forecast for Rio Grande do Sul is that the storms will return with even more force next Friday, the 10th. The estimate is that the central-north and eastern regions of the state, including the north coast and the south of Santa Catarina, are hit by more than 100 millimeters of rain throughout the weekend. Leite told VEJA that there is an expectation of “looping”, that is, a repetition of the damage in the same cities already affected, delaying even longer until the water levels recede and the recovery work begins.
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After two days of respite, strong storms hit the state again this Wednesday, 8th, and the water level of Lake Guaíba, in Porto Alegre, is rising again. At around 7am this Thursday, the measurement was approximately 5.04 meters, which represents an increase of 4 centimeters since the previous night.
Since the beginning of the week, when the lake recorded its historic high of 5.33 meters, the water volume had been falling steadily, reaching a level of 5 meters around 10pm yesterday. Monitoring is carried out by the Secretariat of Environment and Infrastructure (Sema) of Rio Grande do Sul in conjunction with the Geological Survey of Brazil (SGB).
