Flooding to worsen in Brazil’s poor south

More heavy rain is forecast for Brazil’s already flooded Rio Grande do Sul state, where many of those remaining are poor people with limited ability to move to less dangerous areas.

More than 15cm of rain could fall over the weekend and will probably worsen flooding, according to the forecast from Brazil’s national meteorology institute.

It said there is also a likelihood that winds will intensify and water levels rise in the Patos lagoon next to the state capital, Porto Alegre.

Carlos Sampaio (62), lives in a low-income community next to Gremio FC’s football stadium in Porto Alegre. His two-story home doubles as a sports bar.

Even though the first floor is flooded, he said he won’t leave — partly out of fear of looters in his high-crime neighborhood, where police carry assault rifles as they patrol its flooded streets. But Sampaio also has nowhere else to go.

“I am analyzing how safe I am, and I know my belongings aren’t safe at all,” Sampaio said. “As long as I can fight for what is mine, within my abilities to not leave myself exposed, I will fight.”

At least 136 people have died in the floods since they began last week, and 125 more are missing. The number of people displaced from their homes due to the torrential rains has surpassed 400,000.

“I lost my apartment to the flood,” said Matheus Vicari, a 32-year-old Uber driver, inside a shelter where he is staying with his young son. “I don’t spend a lot of time here. I try to be out to think about something else.”

Some residents of Rio Grande do Sul state have found sanctuary at second homes. Alexandra Zanela (42) headed to the beachfront city of Capao da Canoa where her partner’s family owns a summer home.

“We took a ride with my sister-inlaw, took our two cats, my mother and a friend of hers and came here safely. We left the Porto Alegre chaos,” Zanela said. “Those who have the privilege to leave are in a much safer position, and those living in the poorer areas of Porto Alegre have no option.”

In Brazil, many less-well-off people live in poorly built houses and in unregulated areas, vulnerable to damage from extreme weather, such as low-lying areas or on steep hillsides.