STORY: Dozens have died in the heavy rains that have wreaked havoc on Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul… with scores more unaccounted for.
That’s according to local authorities speaking on Saturday.
Storms have affected hundreds of cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.
More than 32,000 people have been displaced, according to the state’s civil defense authority.
The storms have triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam of at a small hydroelectric power plant, with authorities saying a second dam is also at risk.
The state is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created a weather pattern with periods of intense rain and others of drought.
Local scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.
