Written by Jane Cruz, Maria Isabel Bellini, and Flavio Cruz
Introduction
Rio Grande do Sul (RS) is located in the south of Brazil, bordering Uruguay to the south, Argentina to the west, and the State of Santa Catarina to the north, and covers 281,707 km². It has a population of approximately 10,882,965 inhabitants, with a population density of 38.63 inhabitants/km². The Human Development Index - HDI is 0.771. The state capital, Porto Alegre, has 1,332,570 inhabitants and ranks 7th among Brazilian capitals with an HDI of 0.805, with the highest population density in the state and the most dynamic economy among them.
Occupying fourth place among the largest sate economies, Rio Grande do Sul accounts for 6.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The air transport sector infrastructure includes the airports of Porto Alegre (Salgado Filho International Airport), the largest in the state, which handles more than five million passengers per year; the Pelotas International Airport; and the Caxias do Sul Airport. There are some 3,260 kilometers of railway lines and branches used for cargo transport. The State road network includes 6 federal highways (101, 116, 153, 158, 163, 285) and 3 state highways (030, 040, 784) (IBGE Cidades, 2024).
Rio Grande do Sul is one of the Brazilian states with the greatest amount of surface water. The state is drained by a dense surface hydrographic network and has 3 large collecting basins: the Uruguay, Guaíba and Litorânea basins. The Guaíba basin contains areas of great industrial and urban concentration, being the most densely populated in the State, in addition to being home to the largest number of diversified activities, including agricultural and livestock and agro-industrial, industrial, commercial and service activities (Gov. do Estado do RS /Atlas Socioeconômico, 2024).
The largest socio-environmental disaster in the State in its entire history occurred in May of 2024, due to the occurrence of heavy rains causing river flooding, floods, landslides and the isolation of areas, and the effects are still being felt.
According to State Decree 57.626 of May 21, 340 municipalities were identified as being in a state of emergency and 78 in a state of calamity, thus 418 municipalities of the 497 that make up the State were directly affected by the disaster (Governo do Estado do RS, Defesa Civil, 2024).
The consequences of the socio-environmental disaster
According to updated data from the State Civil Defense, on July 1, 2024, the disaster affected 478 municipalities and 2,398,255 people, of which 805 were injured, 33 are missing and 179 are dead. The rain began on April 27 and gained strength on the 29th, when the flood began to take shape. The most affected areas were the valleys of the Taquari, Caí, Pardo, Jacuí, Sinos, Gravataí rivers, as well as the Guaíba river in Porto Alegre, and Lagoa dos Patos, in Pelotas and Rio Grande. The total rainfall in the municipalities of RS between April 22nd and May 6th was equivalent to the average rainfall predicted for five months.
The numbers give visibility to the suffering of the people of RS: 175 people killed by the floods; seven deaths confirmed from leptospirosis (ten deaths remain under investigation); 581,000 homeless and 40,000 who lost their homes and live in precarious shelters (Jornal: A Verdade, 2024).
Many roads in RS were blocked (102 sections of federal and state roads were partially or completely closed) and many bridges were destroyed by flooding, cutting off access by residents of numerous municipalities, leaving many stranded, some without water and electricity. It is estimated that an average of 5,000 houses were destroyed in rural areas and 4,500 in urban areas.
Credit: By NASA - earthobservatory.nasa.gov, Public Domain
According to the Autonomous Department of Highways (DAER), at the worst moment, there were 170 points of closure on 79 highways in 97 municipalities on the state highways of Rio Grande do Sul. On Thursday (May 9), there were 73 sections with total or partial closure on 43 highways. Infrastructure – such as bridges, viaducts, walkways and tunnels – were also greatly affected. In these cases alone, the Department's preliminary report estimates the money needed for rebuilding at almost BRL 230 million (Gov. Estado do RS/DAER, 2024).
The 14 de Julho dam, located between Cotiporã and Bento Gonçalves in the Serra region, partially failed, increasing the volume of water in the Taquari River basin, affecting several municipalities.
To read the full article, download the Boletin Informativo Cooperacion Regional - 2024/11.
