Still reeling a year on, Porto Alegre fears flood

Armed with brushes and paint, volunteers touch up houses left standing after devastating floods last year that killed nearly 200 people and displaced half a million in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

- Lucia Lacurcia, AgenceFrance-Presse

As residents continue to repair damage nearly 12 months after Rio Grande do Sul’s worst-ever natural calamity, they worry not enough is being done to buttress the city against another such catastrophe, which experts say is made ever more likely by climate change.

In late April and early May 2024, three months' worth of rain fell on the wealthy state, of which Porto Alegre is the capital, in just IO days.

The brunt of the deluge was felt in the city of 1.3 million people located on the shores of Lake Guaiba, which is fed by four rivers. Scientists of the World Weather Attribution later concluded climate change had doubled the likelihood of the “extremely rare event” — the kind expected to occur only once every IOO to 250 years. With recovery work still underway, another storm hit the city last month — less severe this time, but again flooding roads, felling trees and knocking out power. “Nowadays, the rain brings fear and insecurity,” said Jotape Pax, a Porto Alegre resident and urban artist behind the volunteer restoration project.