Heavy rain linked to El Niño is still flooding parts of southern Brazil, pushing rivers over their banks, forcing evacuations and damaging roads, homes and public buildings in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná. Authorities kept storm alerts active on Tuesday as the wet pattern continued and emergency crews stayed on standby.
The most exposed area is Rio Grande do Sul, where Defensa Civil said at least 73 municipalities have been affected since July 17. In some localities, rainfall topped 170 millimeters in the last few days, a level that has been enough to flood urban and rural areas, cut bridges and trigger preventive evacuations in places where rivers rose quickly after hours of steady rain.
That is the case in Lajeado, where the Taquari river overflowed and evacuations began, and in Encantado, where the same river exceeded flood level. The Caí river overflowed in São Sebastião do Caí, while the Pardinho river rose in Santa Cruz do Sul, where sirens were activated to warn residents. Porto Lucena recorded 172 millimeters of rain, Paraí 165 millimeters, André da Rocha 153 millimeters, Marau 151 millimeters and Vanini 150 millimeters.
The damage has not been limited to water alone. Falling trees, roof damage, power cuts and blocked bridges have been reported, along with damage to public buildings and schools. In Porto Alegre, a retaining wall collapsed because the soil was saturated. In Ciríaco, an 80-year-old man was rescued after being trapped in his car in a flooded area, a reminder that the flooding is now reaching streets and homes as well as fields and riverbanks.
Seven municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul have already been declared in a state of emergency, a step that is usually taken when the damage is severe enough to overwhelm local response capacity. Others have not gone that far, not because the rain is mild, but because emergency declarations depend on the scale of local losses, the pace of flooding and whether the damage is concentrated in a few points or spread across an entire area. The difference now is that the same storm system is still moving through the region even as some towns are already counting evacuations and repairs.
That is what keeps the pressure on authorities today: the alerts remain active, and meteorological agencies are still warning of new storms with up to 100 millimeters of rain per day, winds of 60 to 100 kilometers per hour and possible hail. In Chapecó, 77.6 millimeters fell in 24 hours, flooding homes, damaging roofs, blocking streets and affecting a health center; three people left their home after water entered it, and other houses were hit by hail. In Foz do Iguaçu, 108 millimeters of rain brought flooded streets, falling trees and material damage, while flooding was also reported in Santo Antônio do Sudoeste, Francisco Beltrão, Honório Serpa and Coronel Vivida.
The pattern points to a flooding emergency that is still unfolding rather than a disaster already past. With rain continuing and more storms forecast, the next hours will determine whether the water starts to fall back into riverbeds or whether more municipalities join the list already dealing with evacuations, damage and emergency declarations.
