Flooding in Brazil has displaced more than 115,000 people and left close to 80 dead.
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At least 75 killed, more than 100 others missing in Brazil floods | Climate Crisis News
More than 88,000 people are displaced as floods hit Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state.
Massive floods in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state have killed at least 75 people over the last seven days, and another 103 were reported missing, local authorities have said.
Damage from the rains also forced more than 88,000 people from their homes, state civil defence authorities said on Sunday. Approximately 16,000 took refuge in schools, gymnasiums and other temporary shelters.
The floods left a wake of devastation, including landslides, washed-out roads and collapsed bridges across the state. Operators reported electricity and communications cuts. More than 800,000 people are without a water supply, according to the civil defence, which cited figures from water company Corsan.
“I repeat and insist: the devastation to which we are being subjected is unprecedented,” state Governor Eduardo Leite said on Sunday morning. He had previously said that the state will need a “kind of ‘Marshall Plan’ to be rebuilt”.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Rio Grande do Sul for a second time on Sunday, accompanied by Defence Minister Jose Mucio, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Environment Minister Marina Silva, among others. The leader and his team surveyed the flooded streets of the state capital, Porto Alegre, from a helicopter.
“We need to stop running behind disasters. We need to see in advance what calamities might happen and we need to work,” President Lula told journalists afterwards.
The Guaiba River reached a record level of 5.33m (17.5 feet) on Sunday morning, surpassing levels seen during a historic 1941 deluge, when the river reached 4.76m (15.6 feet).
During Sunday mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was praying for the state’s population. “May the Lord welcome the dead and comfort their families and those who had to abandon their homes,” he said.
The downpour started on Monday and was expected to last through Sunday. In some areas, such as valleys, mountain slopes and cities, more than 300mm (11.8 inches) of rain fell in less than a week, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology, known by the Portuguese acronym INMET, on Thursday.
The heavy rains were the fourth such environmental disaster in the state in a year, following floods in July, September and November 2023 that killed 75 people.
Weather across South America is affected by the climate phenomenon El Nino, a periodic, naturally occurring event that warms surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific region. In Brazil, El Nino has historically caused droughts in the north and intense rainfall in the south.
This year, the impacts of El Nino have been particularly dramatic, with a historic drought in the Amazon. Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change.
“These tragedies will continue to happen, increasingly worse and more frequent,” said Suely Araujo, a public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory, a network of dozens of environmental and social groups.
Brazil needs to adjust to the effects of climate change, she said in a Friday statement, referring to a process known as adaptation.
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Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years | Climate News
At least 144 people died due to the heavy rainfall in April.
Pakistan has experienced its “wettest April since 1961”, receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency has said.
April rainfall was recorded at 59.3mm (2.3 inches), “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5mm (0.9 inches), the metrology department said in its monthly climate report released late on Friday.
The highest rainfall was recorded in the southwestern province of Balochistan with 437 percent more than average.
At least 144 people also died in the thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in April.
The largest death toll was reported in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 84 people died, including 38 children, and more than 3,500 homes were damaged.
While much of Asia is sweltering due to heatwaves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74.6 degrees Fahrenheit), 0.87C lower than the average of 24.54C, the report added.
“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesman for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said of the report.
In 2022, downpours swelled rivers and at one point flooded a third of Pakistan, killing 1,739 people. The floods caused $30bn in damages, from which Pakistan is still trying to rebuild. Balochistan saw rainfall at 590 percent above average that year, while Karachi saw 726 percent more rainfall than usual.
“The flash floods caused extensive damage to vast area of crops, particularly the wheat crop, which was ready for harvest,” the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a recent report.
“This has resulted in significant economic losses for local farmers and communities, compounding the losses from the rain-related incidents,” it said.
Meanwhile, parts of Pakistan have also been hit by heatwaves and severe air pollution, which experts say are exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and ineffective governance.
“We are witnessing climate change-related incidents nearly every year now. Yet we are not prepared for it,” environment lawyer and activist Ahmad Rafay Alam told the AFP news agency.
“It is the responsibility of our provincial and federal governments to prioritise climate relief and mitigation measures. However, their focus appears to be primarily on political matters,” Alam added.
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‘It’s going to be worse’: Brazil braces for more pain amid record flooding | Floods News
The death toll has climbed to 56 in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state, with tens of thousands displaced.
Overpowering floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains are continuing to sweep southern Brazil, killing at least 56 people and forcing tens of thousands out of their homes, the government said.
As well as raising the death toll on Saturday, the country’s civil defence agency said rising water levels in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were straining dams and threatening the metropolis of Porto Alegre.
Triggered by storms that began on Monday, the flooding is only expected to get worse, local authorities said, as rescuers scoured the ruins of washed-out homes, bridges, and roads for missing people.
“Forget everything you’ve seen, it’s going to be much worse in the metropolitan region,” Governor Eduardo Leite said on Friday as the state’s streets were submerged.
‘Nothing could be saved’
The flooding, Brazil’s worst in 80 years, has so far affected at least 265 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the southernmost state’s civil defence department.
It has injured at least 74 people, displaced more than 24,000, and left 350,000 with some form of property damage.
“Nothing could be saved,” said Claudio Almiro, who lost his home and possessions to the flooding.
“Many people have even lost their lives. I raise my hand to heaven and thank God that I’m alive.”
Residents in several cities and towns have been left completely cut off from the world, with no electricity or telephone access, while others have been forced to abandon their livestock.
“You don’t know if the water will continue to rise or what will happen to the animals, they may soon drown,” said Raul Metzel, from Capela de Santana, north of the state’s capital.
Five days in, as the rainfall shows no signs of letting up, four of the state’s dams are at risk of collapsing, creating the risk of a new “emergency situation”, according to civil defence officials.
Brazil’s federal government has sent aircraft, boats and more than 600 soldiers to help clear roads, distribute food, water and mattresses, and set up shelters, while local volunteers have also helped with search efforts.
‘Disastrous cocktail’
Climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino said the devastating storms were the result of a “disastrous cocktail” of global warming and the El Nino weather phenomenon.
South America’s largest country has recently experienced a string of extreme weather events, including a cyclone in September that killed at least 31 people.
Aquino said the region’s particular geography meant it was often confronted by the effects of tropical and polar air masses colliding – but these events have “intensified due to climate change”.
And when they coincide with El Nino, a periodic warming of the waters in the tropical Pacific, the atmosphere becomes more unstable, he said.
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Landslides, floods sweep Indonesia’s South Sulawesi, killing 15 people | Weather News
Disaster management agency says 115 people evacuated, more than 100 houses damaged amid prolonged torrential rain.
Landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rains in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province have killed at least 15 people after dozens of homes were swept away and roads damaged, the country’s disaster management agency said.
Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, which began in January, with the problem aggravated in some areas by deforestation, and prolonged downpours caused floods in parts of the country that comprises 17,000 islands.
The landslides struck Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday, said Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), in a statement on Saturday.
“A total of 14 residents died due to floods and landslides in Luwu regency,” he said.
In another area of South Sulawesi, at least one person died and two others were injured, Abdul said.
According to BNPB, more than 100 houses were seriously damaged and 42 were swept away, while four roads and one bridge were damaged.
Some 115 people were evacuated to mosques or relatives’ homes and more than 1,300 families were affected with authorities trying to evacuate them.
Indonesia has suffered a string of recent extreme weather events during its rainy season, which experts say are made more likely by climate change.
In March, flash floods and landslides on Sumatra island killed at least 30 people.
In recent days, several Indonesian cities also reported extreme heat, but the country’s weather bureau, BMKG, said the rising temperatures were not part of a heatwave currently sweeping much of the Southeast Asian region.
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Why has the flooding in Kenya been so devastating? | Weather News
Torrential rains have caused devastating floods in Kenya, where more than 200 people have died, thousands have been displaced and nearly 2,000 schools have been destroyed. All remaining schools have been shut down until further notice.
Rains have been ravaging Kenya since March during some of the most catastrophic weather events in the country for years. Now, Cyclone Hidaya is expected to hit Kenya and neighbouring Tanzania late on Friday, which could further worsen the flooding. This comes amid recent heavy rainfall across East Africa.
Here is more about the floods in Kenya so far:
How many people have been killed and injured in Kenya’s floods?
The flooding has wreaked havoc in Kenya, causing death and destruction. Here are the latest figures from Kenya’s Ministry of Interior on Friday:
- At least 210 people have been killed, including 20 in a recent 24-hour period, and 125 have been injured.
- Ninety people have been reported missing with dozens believed to be lost under the debris.
- About 3,100 households have been displaced.
- The schools that have been destroyed number 1,967.
“There are many people who cannot be found. Many of my neighbours cannot be found,” Jane Wambui, a flood survivor, told Al Jazeera.
Many of those who have been worst affected by the flooding live in informal settlements, such as Nairobi’s Mathare, where residents have accused the government of neglecting them.
“The government says they deployed the military and the national youth service and they are stepping up search and rescue missions, but where are they? It has been a week, and where are they? I have not seen anyone here in Mathare. Not one person from the government has come to help us,” Mathare resident Collins Obondo said.
URGENT ALERT: After the heavy rains last night, Mathare 4A has flooded again this morning at 2 am. We desperately need tents to pitch across higher ground in Mathare, especially for children & pregnant women. Please contact: 0705577474 @KenyaRedCross @SakajaJohnson @FoundationGf
— Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC) (@MathareSJustice) April 29, 2024
Where in Kenya is the flooding the worst?
In the town of Mai Mahiu in southern Kenya, a dam burst on Monday, killing at least 48 people.
Mai Mahiu in Nakuru County is west of the capital, Nairobi, which is expected to be hit by more heavy rains, according to a warning issued on X on Friday by Kenya’s Meteorological Department.
🌧️ Attention Nairobi Metropolitan Residents! Prepare for HEAVY to VERY HEAVY rainfall this Friday. Stay weather-aware! Keep updated with https://t.co/NHZNDsKHAW.
For further details, please visit our website at https://t.co/NHZNDsKHAW, pic.twitter.com/X4J64irk2H— Kenya Met Department 🇰🇪 (@MeteoKenya) May 3, 2024
What has caused the flooding in Kenya?
While climate events such as El Nino – the warming of the surface water of the Pacific Ocean, which causes heavy rainfall in some parts of the world – have been linked to the increase in rain, many Kenyans believe the flooding has been exacerbated by lack of investment by the government.
In Mathare, locals blamed the flooding on poorly maintained, frequently blocked drains that have caused water to accumulate.
Flood survivor Nahason Igeria told Al Jazeera: “This was caused by the state national Railways Corporation. They are the ones who built the culvert downstream and the tunnel upstream. It should be their responsibility to maintain the system.”
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published findings that low-income neighbourhoods, such as Mathare, had been severely impacted by the floods due to “less solid structures, congestion and poor sanitation infrastructure”.
In a statement, Greenpeace Africa Executive Director Oulie Keita said the floods are a “stark reminder of the human cost of the climate crisis”, adding, “Some of the damage was further worsened by misinformed development.”
How has the Kenyan government responded to the floods?
In anticipation of Cyclone Hidaya, President William Ruto’s government has ordered mandatory evacuations for residents living close to 178 dams and water reservoirs in 33 counties.
During his national address to the nation on Friday, Ruto said he had directed the Ministry of Education to postpone the reopening of schools for their second term until further notice. Besides the schools destroyed since March, many other schools are being used to shelter those who have been displaced by the floods.
Ruto’s approach to managing the floods has been criticised by residents of Mai Mahiu and of several informal settlements that have been devastated by floodwaters.
Human Rights Watch said the government failed to act following the Meteorological Department’s warnings in May last year that Kenya would experience enhanced rainfall due to El Nino and it would continue into 2024.
While the government set aside at least 10 billion Kenyan shillings ($80m) in preparation for a nationwide response, it did not outline a plan of action. In October, Ruto mistakenly said Kenya would not experience El Nino rainfall as had been predicted.
The Meteorological Department now expects the rainfall to continue until June.
What impact is Cyclone Hidaya expected to have?
Cyclone Hidaya is likely to result in “heavy rainfall, large waves and strong winds that could affect marine activities in the Indian Ocean”, the presidential office said.
The cyclone is also expected to make the search for the bodies of those missing and feared dead even more difficult, experts said.
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Rains, mudslides kill 29 in southern Brazil’s ‘worst disaster’ | Floods News
The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state has climbed to 29, with at least 60 people missing, according to the state’s civil defence agency.
The authorities in Rio Grande do Sul have declared a state of emergency as rescuers continue to search for dozens of people reported missing among the ruins of collapsed homes, bridges and roads.
Rescuers and soldiers have been scrambling to free families trapped in their homes, many stranded on rooftops to escape rising waters.
Storm damage has affected nearly 150 municipalities in the state, also injuring 36 people and displacing more than 10,000.
Governor Eduardo Leite said Rio Grande do Sul was dealing with “the worst disaster in [its] history”, adding that the number of dead was expected to rise.
On Thursday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised “there will be no lack of human or material resources” to “minimize the suffering this extreme event … is causing in the state”.
Federal authorities have already made available 12 aircraft, 45 vehicles and 12 boats as well as 626 soldiers to help clear roads, distribute food, water and mattresses, and set up shelters.
Forecasts warned that the state’s main Guaiba river, which has already overflowed its banks in some areas, could rise to four metres (13 feet) on Friday.
Entire communities in Rio Grande do Sul have been completely cut off as the persistent rains have destroyed bridges and blocked roads, and left towns without telephone and internet services.
The authorities have told people to avoid areas along state highways due to the risk of mudslides, and urged those who live near rivers or on hillsides to evacuate.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without access to drinking water, while classes have been suspended statewide.
South America’s largest country has suffered a string of recent extreme weather events, which experts say are made more likely by climate change. The floods came amid a cold front battering the south and southeast, following a wave of extreme heat.
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Kenya searches for missing people amid deadly floods | Floods News
Rescuers are searching for many people missing amid devastating flooding across Kenya.
The Ministry of Interior and National Administration said on Tuesday that a search operation had been launched following the bursting of a dam in Mai Mahiu in the centre of the country the previous day. Hundreds of people are reported to have died as heavy rains have lashed East Africa in recent weeks.
At least 46 people were reported killed on Monday morning after the bursting of the dam led to mudslides and flash floods in Mai Mahiu, the ministry said in a situation report. Survivors described an onslaught of water that carried away houses, cars and railway tracks.
“When I opened the door, the water gushed in and made its way through the kitchen,” said resident Anne Gachie. “My husband managed to quickly manoeuvre and get out. My daughters, who were in the next room, were swept out of the house.”
Fifty-three people in Mai Mahiu were reported missing, the Interior Ministry said. Meanwhile, the Kenya Red Cross said its tracing desk had reports of 76 people missing.
The eastern county of Garissa, where four people were killed when their boat capsized over the weekend and 23 others were rescued from the floodwaters, has reported 16 people missing.
At least 169 people have died across Kenya as heavy rains have buffeted Eastern Africa since mid-March, causing flooding and other catastrophes.
More than 185,000 Kenyans have been forced from their homes. Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi.
Scientists say climate change is causing more intense and frequent extreme weather events.
At least 120 people were killed in Kenya late last year in floods caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Those rains followed the worst drought large parts of East Africa had experienced in decades.
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Tornado kills five, causes widespread destruction in China’s Guangzhou | Weather News
The tornado struck China’s southern city at the weekend, devastating several communities.
People are cleaning up in China’s southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado struck at the weekend killing at least five people and injuring dozens more.
Aerial photos published by state media showed the scale of the devastation after the tornado tore through several communities in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district on Saturday afternoon during a thunderstorm.
The images showed block upon block of devastation in the hardest-hit areas with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction, a truck overturned on its side and cars crushed by rubble. The sheet metal roofs on some buildings had been torn off.
The extreme weather was the latest to hit China’s industrial heartland after torrential rain last week caused serious flooding and killed four people in Guangdong, China’s most populous province. The area is home to 127 million people and thousands of factories that power the country’s export sector.
At least 33 people were injured and some 141 factories damaged in Saturday’s tornado, Xinhua reported.
Such weather systems are not unusual in China.
In September, 10 people were killed after a tornado struck Suqian, Jiangsu Province, in the country’s east.
In 2021, two tornadoes struck the country in one day, killing 12, including eight in the central city of Wuhan.
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Kenya flooding death toll climbs to 70 since March | Floods News
More than 120,000 people have been displaced, Kenyan government says, with 22 others injured and eight reported missing.
Flooding and heavy rains in Kenya have killed at least 70 people since mid-March, according to a government spokesperson, twice as many as were reported earlier this week.
Kenya and other countries in East Africa — a region highly vulnerable to climate change — have been lashed by severe downpours in recent weeks.
“The official tally of fellow Kenyans who regrettably have lost their lives due to the flooding situation now stands at 70 lives,” government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said on X on Friday, after torrential rains killed 32 people in the capital Nairobi this week.
Fifteen people were killed in the Rift Valley region, the government also said in a report on Friday, following a meeting of the country’s disaster response committee.
More than 120,000 people have been displaced by the floods, the report said, with 22 others injured and eight reported missing.
The government has proposed 3.3 billion Kenyan shillings ($24.5m) for an “initial emergency response”, which includes repairing infrastructure, emergency housing and food assistance.
Sixty-four public schools in Nairobi – nearly a third of the total number in the capital – have been “substantially affected” by the flooding, said Belio Kipsang, the principal secretary for education.
However, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said that “the schools will reopen as scheduled” following the mid-term holidays this month.
Kenyans have been warned to stay on alert, with more heavy rains forecast across the country in coming days as the monsoon batters East Africa.
The flooding has been compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.
A naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, El Nino can lead to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.
Regional destruction
Meanwhile, at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides in neighbouring Tanzania.
Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Thursday that more than 200,000 people had been affected by the disaster.
He said homes, property, crops, as well as infrastructure including roads, bridges, railways and schools, had been damaged or destroyed.
In Burundi, about 96,000 people have been displaced by months of relentless rains, the United Nations and the government said this month.
The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) said in an update this week that in Somalia, the seasonal Gu rains from April to June are intensifying, with flash floods reported since April 19.
It said four people had been reportedly killed and more than 800 people were affected or displaced nationwide.
Uganda has also suffered heavy storms that have caused riverbanks to burst, with two fatalities confirmed and several hundred villagers displaced.
Late last year, more than 300 people died in torrential rains and floods in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, just as the region was trying to recover from its worst drought in four decades that left millions of people hungry.
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