(CNN) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent Congress a legislative decree to accelerate the transfer of resources to Rio Grande do Sul, where at least 85 people have died due to heavy rains and flooding in the last week, according to the state civil defense unit.
The Senate said on Monday night that it will review in the coming days the decree, which recognizes the state of calamity in Rio Grande do Sul and allows other measures, including the granting of provisional credits, negotiations to suspend monthly debt payments from the state to the federation and incentives for the productive sector.
The storms have affected more than a million people in 385 municipalities across the state, the civil defense said. At least 339 people have been injured, more than 150,000 have been displaced and 134 are missing.
More than 46,000 people have been rescued in a massive operation involving some 15,000 troops, the federal government said.
Volunteer Allan Colar Jacino told CNN on Monday that his team went to the Humaitá neighborhood of the capital Porto Alegre, where they witnessed looting. He said people were trying to steal canoes and jet skis and arrests were being made.
“Today was worse than yesterday,” he said.
In the last two days, Colar Jacino helped rescue 110 people. “I’m emotionally exhausted,” he said, describing seeing a dead body floating inside a house.
President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Credit: Claudio Reis/Getty Images)
More rain is expected this week in parts of the state and in the border area with Uruguay, according to Brazil’s meteorological agencies.
The southern part of the state is expected to receive up to 100 millimeters of rain through Friday afternoon, with the bulk of the precipitation falling on Wednesday. The northern part will receive less rainfall overall, probably less than 25 mm, but small areas could receive up to 150 mm. This will occur mainly between Thursday and Friday.
The record rainfall has been linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon, which according to the World Meteorological Organization, is responsible for warming the waters of the Pacific and helped block cold fronts and concentrate area systems of instability over Rio Grande do Sul.
From Mauricio Torres of CNNEE and Michael Ríos and Julia Vargas Jones of CNN
