Floods affect over 800,000 people in Santa Catarina; rain gives respite. Sun shines.
BLUMENAU, Brazil – The rain that has slammed the state of Santa Catarina in recent days, has affected 819,338 people in 86 cities, according to a report released this morning by the state Civil Defense.
According to a report on O Globo online, 57,481 people are displaced and 8220, homeless. On Saturday, the rain has let up with sunshine peaking through clouds in places. However, the Civil Defense maintains the state of alert for flooding and landslides.
Power outages have affected 2.3 million customers in the state. Workers trying to restore power have been unable to reach power facilities in some areas because of flooding and landslides particularly in the area of Rio do Sul. Some areas of the state are also suffering telephone disruption.
According to the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC), September rainfall was well above normal. From the time the rains began on Monday until now, Blumenau has seen just shy of 8 inches of rain which is 75% above normal for the entire month.
The Federal Government plans to release 18 million dollars in disaster relief as well as sending in emergency food shipments.
Blumenau is one of the cities hardest hit due to flooding of the Itajai-Acu River which crested at 41 feet on Friday—14.5 feet above flood stage. Several city streets have been flooded and are impassable, leaving about 20,000 people stranded. Blumenau has a population of 300,000.
Among those affected by the flooding are the mayor, João Paulo Kleinübing, who could not get home last night and spent the night on the couch in his office in the center of the city. The mayor expects flooding to recede; electricity, water and telephone service to all be restored; and public transportation to resume on Monday, when he also expects businesses and schools to be open.
The mayor expects the annual Oktoberfest to go on as scheduled beginning October 6th.
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