Brazil - May 2024

Between 24 April and 4 May, historic floods devastated southern Brazil, particularly affecting Rio Grande do Sul. This catastrophe, intensified by climate change and the El Niño phenomenon, left over 90 per cent of the state underwater, displaced more than 580,000 people, and caused 172 deaths, with dozens still missing. The floods overwhelmed infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity or water and disrupting essential services. A team of researchers from various countries concluded that human-caused climate change made the intense rainfall event twice as likely and 6-9 per cent more severe. Additionally, the federal and local governments’ poor disaster preparedness and inadequate maintenance of flood protection infrastructure exacerbated the impact. Despite early warnings from the National Meteorologist Institute (Inmet), communication failures and insufficient investment in flood defences contributed to the disaster's severity, which affected heavily marginalised sectors such as Indigenous and Quilombo communities. 

Sources: North American Congress on Latin America, El Pais, World Weather Attribution, Midia Ninja, Globo