The death toll from heavy rains in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil jumped to 29 on Thursday night, with another 60 people missing, according to the state’s civil defense.
The agency had said in its previous report at noon that 13 people were dead and 21 missing, a figure slightly higher than Wednesday’s figure.
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, traveled to the state on Thursday to meet with local authorities and express his solidarity.
“Everything within our government’s power will be done to meet the needs of the people who are being affected by these rains,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Operators reported electricity and water outages across the state, and authorities detailed numerous incidents of flooded roads, landslides and collapsed bridges as water levels in rivers and streams rose sharply. Part of the structure of a hydroelectric plant gave way this Thursday. More than 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes, according to the civil defense agency.
The rain started on Monday and is expected to last until Friday. In some areas, such as valleys, mountain slopes and cities, more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology, known by its acronym INMET, on Tuesday.
“The current event will be the worst climate disaster our state has ever faced,” said Governor Eduardo Leite on X late Wednesday afternoon. “We are living in a very critical moment in the state.”
The climate in South America is affected by the El Niño climate phenomenon, a naturally occurring periodic event that warms surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region. In Brazil, El Niño has historically caused droughts in the north and intense rains in the south.
This year, the impacts of El Niño were particularly dramatic, with a historic drought in the Amazon. Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change.
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