Situation Analysis
Description of the Disaster
On 14 July 2015 Rio Grande Do Sul Civil Defence declared an emergency at the municipal level, reporting floods in several cities. The Uruguay River’s water levels reached 13.57 meters, whose average levels are barely five or six meters. This is the result of intense rainfall in the region which caused the overflowing of the Gravataí and Arrollo Sapucaya Du So rivers and floods that affected homes, roads and shops in these three States.
Currently 184 cities have been flooded in the States of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande Do Sul, with more than 109,740 people are affected, of which 5,122 are in collective centres , with host families or elsewhere. The most affected cities include Esteio, Frederico Westphalen, Cachoeira do Sul, Riozinho Rolante, Chapecó, Xanxerê and Maravilha.
Civil Defence remains in control of the situation around the Uruguay, Cai and Sinos rivers and are providing all necessary assistance to municipal security corps. The increase in Uruguay River flows is also a matter of concern for the municipalities of Irai, San Borja, Uruguaiana, Itaqui and Barra do Quaraí. Likewise, in the case of the Sinos River the municipalities that are expecting a large amount of rainfall are Novo Hamburgo, São Leopoldo, Esteio, Parobé, Montenegro and São Sebastião do Caí. Monitoring continues and rivers are expected to slowly return to their normal courses.