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Writer's pictureVanderlei Cadore

Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, suffers from natural disaster

Updated: Jun 3

Rio Grande do Sul State, in Brazil, suffers the biggest natural disaster in its recent history, with river levels surpassing the 1941 record.

Floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Flooding in Porto Alegre, Flooding in RS, Guaíba lake level exceeds historical mark, Guaíba lake level reaches 5.30m
Credit: BBC and Getty Images. Photo: Image of the center of the Capital of RS, Porto Alegre, taken by the water of Lake Guaíba

The State of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, is experiencing its worst climate disaster in recent history. A total of 341 municipalities were affected out of a total of 497 municipalities in the RS State, the vast majority of which suffered from uninterrupted rain in the last 8 days and, above the historical average, in some localities reaching more than half of the rainfall forecast for the year all.


Precipitation:


To get an idea of the volume of rainfall recorded in the State, some cities of Rio Grande do Sul Stare recorded more than half of the rainfall that usually occurs throughout the year, for example: the annual average usually hovers around a thousand to 1, 3 thousand millimeters, but Fontoura Xavier City, located in "Serra" (montain) of RS State, totaled 684 millimeters in last days. The municipalities of Caxias do Sul, Faxinal do Soturno, Nova Palma, Bento Gonçalves and Soledade also record totals above 500 millimeters. Santa Maria broke a world record for rainfall in one day, reaching 214 mm this past Wednesday, which was expected for the month of May between 130 mm and 180 mm.


Damage caused:


According to meteorologists, the damage that caused the weather phenomenon was a clash of hot air masses coming from the north with the entry of a cold front coming from the south, causing a thermal contrast, which due to the strong heat, causing intense rains. “This situation in Rio Grande do Sul is the "low atmospheric pressure system" that comes from the Pacific Ocean. It generates a "high pressure atmospheric system" in the Midwest and Southeast and the "high pressure atmospheric system" blocks the "low atmospheric pressure system". The "cold fronts" arrive there, are unable to pass and it rains too much, fed by a very large flow of water vapor that is coming from the Amazon and passes parallel to the 'Andes Mountain Range”, details Nobre, researcher at the Institute of Climate Studies at USP and co-president of the Scientific Panel for the Amazon.


The losses, at this moment, are incalculable, impossible to measure, and will leave consequences for a long time in the RS State: business structures, commerce, industries, agricultural complexes, grain and fruit crops, machinery and equipment, production vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and harvesters, not to mention a multitude of passenger vehicles, homes, affecting almost a million people.


Recuperation of RS State:


The State of Rio Grande do Sul declared a State of Emergency, which was immediately recognized by the Federal Government and will go through moments of great reconstruction from now on, after calculating the losses. Just to give you an idea of the extent of the damage, the Guaíba lake, which reached the mark of 5.30m above its riverbed, whose flood mark was 3m, will take around 30 days to return to its natural level, if the weather contributes and rain throughout the days.


Once this moment has passed, the Government will have to calculate the size of the damage left by the floods and, certainly, measures must be taken to prevent a tragedy of these proportions from occurring again in the future, especially due to the constant climate variations that the world faces. has been facing, investment in forecasting technologies, which are imminent.


Help to RS State:


The people of Rio Grande do Sul need your help to recover from this climate catastrophe, whose families lost everything they owned and were left with only the clothes on their backs, firstly because of the urgency to survive they left everything behind and, secondly, because upon returning to their Houses will have little to recover, the main thing now being shelter, because there will be more rain over the next few days and the arrival of the cold is expected (not least because the atmospheric blockage was overcome by the first and strongest cold wave).


Rio Grande Agrícola is aware of the situation of all those affected by the floods and wants to help in some way, being able to contribute with the help of its followers, friends, businesspeople who interact with us and know how much we preserve through honesty, ethics and transparency in our business and want to show solidarity with our people in order to contribute emergency aid to purchase urgent materials that thousands of people are in need of at this time.


The aid plan will be the purchase of emergency items: hygiene materials, cleaning materials, water and warm clothing (mattresses, blankets, clothes for the cold weather to come).


From now on, we will be grateful for any and all help that comes and, certain, we will account for every penny that comes in over the next few days.


Special RGA account for donations to victims in the State of RS, in Currency (BRL):




Special RGA account for donations to victims in the State of RS, in Foreign Currency (USD/EUR, others):


IBAN: BR2390400888012700130051480C1

Beneficiary: RIO GRANDE AGRICOLA S.A


Instructions: Identify yourself with email, contact and name so we can send legal documents.


Also, below, we have useful links so you can decide the best way to contribute:


Defesa Civil RS:




Mensageiro da Caridade:




Doações do Exterior - GZH:




Site do terra:




Jornal o Globo:




Agência Brasil:




Folha de São Paulo:


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