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Brazil flooding will take weeks to go away, experts warn

Brazil's. southernmost state capital may suffer extreme flooding for weeks. to come, specialists caution, intensifying the battles of half a. million individuals required to abandon their flooded homes.

Parts of Rio Grande do Sul state have 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 risen again today to 5.22. meters (17.13 feet), well above the flood level of 3.0 meters. and near last week's all-time record of 5.33 meters.

Meteorologists and engineers at the Federal University of. Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) said water levels might support or. keep increasing if it rains again. They said it could take a month. before the water retreats listed below flood levels, based upon. historic contrasts.

The floods have actually ravaged dozens of towns inland from Porto. Alegre, where the downtown location remains under water. In the. whole state, the death toll was at 149, while 108 were still. missing.

Some 250,000 addresses are still without power and more than. 136,000 individuals have actually lost access to water, state authorities stated.

On Wednesday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva revealed. that the federal government will disperse 5,100 reais ($ 992). to some 240,000 families which have actually lost their houses or. furniture by the historic floods. The step would cost some. 1.2 billion reais, according to federal government estimates.

At Sao Leopoldo, among the cities affected by the. floods, Lula also said his administration will bring forward the. payment of some social benefits for the state's residents, while. planning to purchase homes from economic sector to provide to displaced. individuals.

An initial forecast from the UFRGS Institute of Hydraulic. Research Study (IP) suggested the water could take 35 days to return. to typical levels based on the previous worst flood in 1941, when. it reached 4.76 meters. Tributaries upstream are expected to. normalize before then.

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

That might be delayed if it rains more. In 1941 we didn't. have the rebound we have now, stated IPH hydrologist Fernando. Fan.

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

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

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

We are awaiting it to decrease. We mored than happy that it was. falling, but now it has begun to increase again. It will take at. least two months, said Cristiano Pastoriza.

We could only entrust to the clothing we were using and. our files, the 58-year-old fisherman told .

Moacir Lopes stated the fish will not return up until the river. returns to its normal course.

It will take a long time to return, two or three months. All this bad water needs to be drained pipes. When the new water comes,. the fish will come back, he stated.

The fishermen utilized their boats to rescue residents in the. badly flooded neighboring village of Canoas.

When I saw individuals on the roofing systems, little children, I wept,. it broke my heart, he said.

(source: Reuters)