Floods in Brazil leave 150,000 people homeless and numerous deaths

STORY: Rescuers rushed to evacuate people stranded by devastating floods in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul on Tuesday.

The flood has left at least 90 dead and over 150,000 homeless, with many survivors desperate for food and basic supplies.

Relatives waited on the banks of the Guaiba River in the state capital Porto Alegre to find their loved ones on the boats that brought rescued people from the flood zones.

Taina Silva is still waiting for news about her husband:

“My daughter won’t stop crying. There are firefighters there, but they say they can’t do anything from there to here, so I should come here and ask the firefighters here if they can save my husband there.”

The flooding has made rescue efforts even more difficult, with dozens of people still waiting to be evacuated from rain-stricken homes by boat or helicopter.

The downpour that began last week has overflowed rivers, inundated entire cities and destroyed roads, bridges and airports.

The rain is now expected to ease on Thursday but then continue into the weekend.

Experts believe the cause is a heat wave caused by this year’s El Nino phenomenon, which is colliding with a cold front from Antarctica and unusual humidity in the Atlantic.

In Porto Alegre, a city of 1.3 million people, downtown streets were under water after the Guaiba River burst its banks amid record water levels.

According to the civil protection authorities, the floods also had an impact on water and electricity supplies, affecting more than 1.4 million people in total.