Andrew Harper, climate advisor for the UN refugee agency , photographs a house partially destroyed by the floods that hit Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, June 23, 2024. - REUTERSPIX
Roughly 389,000 people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul remain displaced from their homes because of the intense rain and flooding, which local officials say was the worst disaster in the region's history. Scientists say climate change made the flooding twice as likely to happen. “It was underwater for almost 40 days. There wasn’t even any rats running around. Everything had died,“ Harper said in an interview on Tuesday.Even after the flood waters subsided, residents have not returned to the neighborhood where streets are piled high with water-logged garbage and debris. Many are still living in shelters, including Venezuelan refugees who had resettled in Porto Alegre.