*Porto Alegre is usually hot and humid in summer
*Most vulnerable were the most impacted by the floods
*Severe drought affected 210 of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul in the last month
*Homelessness increased by almost 15% after floods
*Solidarity kitchens of the landless movement deliver tons of food the population of Porto Alegre
*Population has not yet erased the events of May 2024 from its memory
*Most vulnerable were the most impacted by the floods
*Severe drought affected 210 of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul in the last month
*Homelessness increased by almost 15% after floods
*Solidarity kitchens of the landless movement deliver tons of food the population of Porto Alegre
*Population has not yet erased the events of May 2024 from its memory
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Brazil, 10 months after the worst floods in its history, the state of Rio Grande do Sul is
00:05trying to recover normality. However, near-extreme weather events and the lack of response from local
00:11authorities are raising alarms among the population. Our correspondent Ignacio Lemos tells us more.
00:19Porto Alegre bears the scars of the biggest flood in its history,
00:23but everything indicates that the heavy rains that Rio Grande do Sul suffered 10 months ago
00:28will not be the last extreme weather event. The state's climatic reality is one of contrasts.
00:33A week ago, the heat was record-breaking, reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
00:40It is not normal how hot it was last week. It was horrible.
00:48Porto Alegre is usually hot and humid in summer, but the relative humidity in the air is currently
00:53around 30 to 20 percent. This is due to a meteorological phenomenon characterized by
00:58the elevation of the water temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean,
01:01which generates dry periods in the south of Brazil and rainy periods in the southeast and northeast.
01:08People are working in that heat. A lot of people felt sick.
01:11They had high blood pressure. They fainted.
01:19The most vulnerable were the most impacted by the floods.
01:22Recycling cooperatives, which are essential to prevent waste from clogging drainage systems,
01:27have yet to receive support from local governments
01:29to recover the pressing machines that were damaged by the floods.
01:36We have to rebuild the floor. The presses, they got wet. It's still difficult.
01:40It's just the beginning.
01:45In the last month, a severe drought affected 210 of the 497 municipalities
01:51in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The losses between 2020 and 2024 amount to about $54 billion.
01:58However, agribusiness, the sector responsible for the highest greenhouse gas emissions,
02:03does not take measures to diversify crops and reforestation to prevent climate change.
02:14That investment in the agenda to protect biodiversity,
02:16combat desertification and confront climate change is an action to protect the environment.
02:22But for those who are not moved by protecting Mother Nature,
02:25you can be sure that they will be moved by what will come out of their pockets every year.
02:35The price of real estate fell exponentially in the regions that were flooded and the increase
02:39in rents is putting pressure on the population of popular neighborhoods previously considered
02:44dangerous due to real estate speculation.
02:46The number of homeless people grew by almost 15 percent in the months following the floods.
02:55There are areas that were not directly affected by the rains, but were affected by the increase
02:59in population in those neighborhoods, as if the periphery was inflated.
03:07Fourteen solidarity kitchens of the Landless Movement deliver tons of food daily to the
03:11vulnerable population of Porto Alegre. The humanitarian actions continued in
03:16partnership with federal government programs after the floods.
03:22Since then, we have not stopped helping and we started to discover more and more people
03:26who needed our help. The sediments of the floods in the rivers that reach the large
03:33cities of Rio Grande do sole hinder drainage to the sea in the event of new torrential rains.
03:39A bad omen for a population that has not yet erased from its memory what happened in May 2024
03:45and is already experiencing new extreme weather events.