State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil - May 9, 2024

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Brazil's government has declared a state of calamity in 336 of the 496 municipalities in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul due to heavy rainfall that has been falling throughout the past week, reaching levels not seen since 1941.

The list of affected municipalities includes the state capital Porto Alegre, where water levels have exceeded five metres this weekend, and densely populated cities such as Canoas and Caxias do Sul.
According to the Civil Defence of Rio Grande do Sul, at least 86 people have died as a result of the storm, more than 100 have been injured and another 105 are missing, while the Brazilian Air Force deployed reconnaissance drones on Sunday to help locate and identify more victims.

In total, more than 844,000 people have been affected across the state, the country's southernmost state, 134,300 of whom have lost their homes.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised that bureaucracy will not be an obstacle to the state's recovery efforts and that all necessary resources will be made available to the region. "We owe a lot to Rio Grande do Sul and the Gaucho people," he said, reports the G1 portal.

Images in association with David Biz.

SHOTLIST:
1. Various floods in Rio Grande do Sul from a drone.