Intense flooding in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul killed at least 136 people, left 131 people missing, and displaced more than 400,000 people on May 9th, 2024.
The rain has flooded entire cities, blocked roads, and shut down an international airport. The weather is only expected to get worse this weekend, with Brazil’s national meteorology team predicting over six inches(or 15 centimeters) of rain and worsening winds.
The first floors of many buildings are flooded so much that people need to take shelter in higher buildings, with many sheltering in gyms, schools, and churches.
Many animals were displaced in this flood, including a horse stranded on two sheets of asbestos in the middle of the flood, nicknamed ‘Caramelo’ by the internet after images of him went viral online.
Floods in Brazil were linked to El Nino, as described in this article from the World Meteorological Organization, and while El Nino normally worsens rain around this time of year, climate change has only exacerbated the flooding. Specifically, Mercedes Bustamante, an ecologist and professor at the University of Brasília, notes that deforestation and haphazard urbanization have worsened the normally heavy rains.
