While the alert is maintained for the danger of further rainfall in southern Brazil, the authorities of the municipality of Porto Alegre they try to facilitate the flow of water from the city center by opening the locks that regulate the level of the Lake Guaiba. According to the latest measurements, the lake is still at a level of 4.69 meters, when the flood limit is 3 metres, while the record level was recorded on 6 May with the historic threshold of 5.33 metres.
With the opening of the locks – the Department for Water and Sewerage (Demae) reports in a note – the objective is to normalize the situation in the area where businesses, banks, museums and cultural centers are concentrated and to allow the return of Lake Guaiba to its natural bed. The floodgates were blocked on May 2 to contain the advance of the waters on the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, but were unable to avoid the largest flood in the city’s history.
Flooding, landslides and landslides caused by exceptional rainfall have affected the whole of southern Brazil in recent weeks with a toll to date of 154 deaths and over half a million people displaced.
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