No water to drink after floods ravage Brazil's south

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — The mayor of a major city in southern Brazil pleaded with residents on Tuesday to comply with his water rationing decree, given that some four-fifths of the population is without running water, a week after major flooding that has left at least 90 people dead and more than 130 missing.

Efforts were continuing to rescue people stranded by the floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, as more rains were forecast for the region next week. The state's capital Porto Alegre has been virtually cut off, with the airport and bus station closed and main roads blocked because of the floodwaters.

The floods in Brazil are among extreme weather events being seen around the world.

Yoga teacher Maria Vitoria Jorge's apartment building in downtown Porto Alegre is flooded, so she is leaving it behind, having withdrawn about 8,000 reais ($1,600) from her savings to rent an apartment for herself and her parents elsewhere in the state.

"I can't shower at home, wash the dishes or even have drinkable water," the 35-year-old Jorge said as she prepared to drive away in her car. She had just 3.8 liters of water for the 200-kilometer drive to the city of Torres, so far unaffected by the floods.

Five of Porto Alegre's six water treatment facilities are not working, and Porto Alegre Mayor Sebastiao Melo decreed on Monday that water is to be used exclusively for "essential consumption".

"We are living in an unprecedented natural disaster and everyone needs to help," Melo told journalists.

The most urgent need is drinking water, but food and personal hygiene products are also in short supply. Other Brazilian states are mobilizing trucks with donations bound for Rio Grande do Sul.

There were long lines and empty shelves at supermarkets in Porto Alegre on Tuesday. Some people have tried to buy bottled water since the weekend, and when they could find it, their purchases were limited to two 5-liter bottles.

Public health experts said there is also a growing risk of disease as much of the region remains submerged, warning that cases of dengue fever and leptospirosis, a bacterial disease, in particular could rise sharply within days.

The downpour has stopped for now, but a looming cold front will bring more severe rain starting from Tuesday night, mainly in the southern part of the state, according to the National Meteorological Institute. Rainfall could exceed 150 millimeters by early Wednesday.

Late on Monday, Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite issued an alert for several cities close to the huge Patos Lagoon. Porto Alegre's metropolitan region is one of Brazil's largest, home to about 4 million people.

Damage from the rains has already forced more than 150,000 people from their homes. An additional 50,000 have taken refuge in schools, gymnasiums and other temporary shelters.

Agencies via Xinhua