Rain started falling in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on April 27. Then at the start of May, it turned into localized heavy rain, causing floods and landslide disasters. Disasters are affecting 85% of cities in the state. In the city of Caxias do Sul, the rainfall in May is usually 131.0 mm. It was 148 mm on May 1 and then they recorded 192 mm the next day. The Guaíba River, which runs through the state capital Porto Alegre, reached a height of 4.76 meters during the catastrophic flood of 1941. Flood gates were built in 1970, but despite that, this time the Guaíba River reached 5.33 meters in 6 days. The floods in Rio Grande do Sul State have caused 157 deaths and 88 people are missing, while 77,000 people have been evacuated and at least 580,000 people have lost their homes. People are worried because it looks as though more rain will come at the end of May and in June.


As soon as news of the floods started coming in, people started campaigns across Brazil to support Rio Grande do Sul from about May 3. Drinking water, clothes, mattresses, non-perishable foods, personal hygiene items (toilet paper, soap, toothbrushes, disposable diapers, etc.), and also pet food.
They are collecting donations in all sorts of places, like the air bases in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Brasilia, and post offices, schools, and major supermarkets across the country. And it’s not just now. I think everyone will have to keep on giving donations for another few months.


I saw news on the TV the other day about a horse being rescued by a firefighter, a vet, and a soldier in a boat after it had been standing on a roof for 6 days because of flooding.
And I saw on TV a dog that had been swimming for some time being rescued, but even after it had been rescued and was in the arms of a human, it kept on paddling with its front legs as though it were still swimming. That was difficult to watch. In places where there are a lot of farms, I could only see the heads of cows above the water, and I couldn’t tell whether they were walking or swimming. I wondered anxiously whether they found somewhere safe. After one man was rescued, he asked for the 4 “sons” he had put in his house to be rescued. When the rescue team went back to the house in their boat for what they thought were 4 sons, they found 4 large dogs. The stories you hear on the news every day just make you cry.
A prison in the city of Cascavel in Paraná State makes kennels and will donate 600 of them to Rio Grande do Sul.
There is a person with a home they have spent their whole life building but have lost everything, left speechless. And a family living on the 2nd story of their house because they can’t get out the 1st story due to the flood waters, but are surviving because they somehow managed to bring at least some food up to the 2nd story.
There is a person whose car got stuck on a bridge because of the flooding and spent 12 days in the car, unable to move.
And there is a person who lost everything they owned but is grateful that their family survived unharmed and is happy.

Some residents affected by floods have refused calls to evacuate. They say they cannot leave their homes unattended because they have to protect their homes from thieves.

The El Nino phenomenon started in June last year has caused all sorts of problems, like floods in southern Brazil, drought in the Amazon, and increased temperatures in central Brazil, but they say it will come to an end around late May.

I hope that the people of Rio Grande do Sul State can rebuild their lives as soon as possible.