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Brazil flooding will take weeks to diminish, experts caution

Brazil's. southernmost state capital might suffer extreme flooding for weeks. to come, professionals warn, compounding the battles of half a. million people required to abandon their flooded homes.

Parts of Rio Grande do Sul state have actually seen more than 630 mm. ( 25 inches) of rain so far this month, national weather service. INMET reported-- more than London's typical rainfall in a year.

The waters of Lake Guaiba, which breached its banks to flood. state capital Porto Alegre, have actually increased again this week to 5.22. meters (17.13 feet), well above the flood level of 3.0 meters. and close to recently's all-time record of 5.33 meters.

Meteorologists and engineers at the Federal University of. Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) stated water levels might stabilize or. keep increasing if it rains again. They stated it might take a month. before the water retreats below flood levels, based upon. historical comparisons.

The floods have actually ravaged lots of towns inland from Porto. Alegre, where the downtown area stays under water, killing at. least 148 and leaving 124 still missing out on.

More than 267,000 addresses are still without power and. 159,000 individuals have actually lost access to water, state officials stated.

A preliminary projection from the UFRGS Institute of Hydraulic. Research (IP) suggested the water could take 35 days to return. to normal levels based upon the previous worst flood in 1941, when. it reached 4.76 meters. Tributaries upstream are expected to. stabilize before then.

Lake Guaiba must return slowly to below flood levels. within weeks and even by mid-June, said IPH Teacher Rodrigo. Paiva, but he included that it will depend on the weather condition ahead.

That may be postponed if it rains more. In 1941 we didn't. have the rebound we have now, said IPH hydrologist Fernando. Fan.

Restored rainfall over the last couple of days led to a new rise in. the Guaiba water level, leading authorities to caution homeowners. not to return to locations at danger.

On the roadside where they sought high ground outside the. inundated fishing hamlet of Paquetá, 25 km north of Porto. Alegre, villagers are enjoying the water level closely.

On May 1, after 2 days of extreme rain, a broken dike. flooded the area outside Porto Alegre, where on Tuesday only the. roofs of the village can be seen.

We are waiting on it to decrease. We enjoyed that it was. falling, now it has started to rise once again. It will take at. least 2 months, said Cristiano Pastoriza.

We might only leave with the clothing we were wearing and. our files, the 58-year-old fisherman informed .

Moacir Lopes said the fish will not return until the river. returns to its typical course.

It will take a very long time to return, two or 3 months. All this bad water has to be drained. When the new water comes,. the fish will return, he said.

The fishermen used their boats to rescue locals in the. seriously flooded neighboring town of Canoas.

When I saw people on the roofs, little children, I cried,. it broke my heart, he stated.

(source: Reuters)