By Isaiah Gong, Class of ’27 – Correspondent
For the past ten months, torrential rainfall caused by global warming ravaged Southern Brazil and Uruguay, destroying homes, public services, infrastructure, crops, and families. The most recent, ongoing flood starting in April is record-breaking. In the peak of the rainfall, the municipality of Santa Maria was submerged after experiencing 24 hours of rainfall. Further East, the flood protection system of Porto Alegre couldn’t hold as it started to fail at a water level of 4.5m. As of May 7, the rivers in the Southern State of Rio Grande do Sul had already reached a record high of 17.4 ft, amounting to more than a billion dollars in damage.
This disaster highlights a failure in the government as the previous cuts in investments towards flood protection and the deforestation due to weak environmental regulations heightened the damage and severity of this flood. Now, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s largest source of agricultural goods is in a dire state as the flood killed an estimated 169 people, destroyed crops, and left a million people without electricity. In May, about 150,000 people were displaced due to Brazil’s flood. Now, this number is more than 620,000. Michael Fox, a journalist based in Latin America wrote, “The floodwaters in southern Brazil lapped near rooftops, turning roads into rivers and engulfing entire towns” (Fox).
Red Cross teams have been dispatched to Brazil to help those affected by the flood by distributing food, water, clothes, medicine, and other provisions. Ordinary citizens in Porto Alegre are raising awareness through social media and risking their lives to help those in need.
We, as a school, can help Brazil in this difficult time. As the winter season approaches, temperatures could get to as low as fifty degrees. Brazil needs blankets and light jackets. You can donate them at a designated box in the high school lobby from June 3 – June 14. All donations will be sent to a shelter at the Church of LDS in Porto Alegre. Every donation matters!
Sources consulted: IFRC; AlJazeera.com; BBC.com; World Resources Institute; The Guardian.com; Phys.org
