This will be the greatest disaster our state has ever faced
Heavy storms have killed 10, injured 11, left 21 missing, and displaced over 3,400 people across Rio Grande do Sul as of May 1, 2024. Governor Leite claims this disaster exceeds last year's floods that killed 50+, marking the costliest environmental catastrophe in state history.
- 10 dead, 11 injured, 21 missing as of May 1, 2024
- Nearly 19,100 people affected; 3,416 displaced from homes; 1,072 in public shelters
- State of public calamity declared May 1; emergency order valid for 180 days
- Governor calls it costliest disaster in state history, exceeding 2023 floods that killed 50+
Rio Grande do Sul declared a state of public calamity after intense rainfall killed 10 people and affected nearly 19,100 residents. Governor Eduardo Leite called it the state's worst disaster in material damage history.
On Wednesday, May 1st, the government of Rio Grande do Sul formally declared a state of public calamity. The declaration came in response to days of intense rainfall that had already claimed ten lives across the state and left the landscape fractured—homes damaged, roads impassable, entire communities cut off from basic services.
By the time the decree was signed and published in the state's official gazette, the toll had grown stark. The state's Civil Defense agency reported not only the ten dead but also eleven injured and twenty-one people still missing. Nearly nineteen thousand residents had been touched by the storms in some way. Of those, more than three thousand had abandoned their homes entirely, seeking shelter with family or friends. Another thousand-plus had moved into public emergency shelters, waiting for conditions to stabilize enough to return.
Governor Eduardo Leite, speaking to journalists in Porto Alegre that same Wednesday, made a striking claim: this disaster would prove to be the costliest in the state's recorded history. He was careful to distinguish between types of catastrophe. Last year's floods had been deadlier—killing more than fifty people—but this year's storms, he suggested, would inflict greater material destruction. "Unfortunately, this will be the greatest disaster our state has ever faced," he said. "Unfortunately, it will be larger than what we witnessed last year."
The declaration itself was more than symbolic. It authorized state agencies and public entities to mobilize resources and personnel to assist affected populations across the damaged regions. Individual municipalities could submit their own requests for state support, which would then be evaluated and formally approved. The emergency order would remain in effect for one hundred eighty days—six months of official crisis status.
On Thursday, May 2nd, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was scheduled to arrive in Rio Grande do Sul at the head of a delegation of federal ministers. According to Paulo Pimenta, the president's communications secretary, Lula intended to demonstrate the federal government's presence in the state and offer direct support to Governor Leite and to the people affected by the storms. The presidential itinerary remained fluid; officials planned to reassess the flight plan at takeoff depending on weather conditions. The original plan called for the president to depart Brasília around seven in the morning and land in Santa Maria, in the state's interior, but those details were subject to change as the storms continued to move through the region.
Notable Quotes
This will be the greatest disaster our state has ever faced. It will be larger than what we witnessed last year.— Governor Eduardo Leite
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When a governor says this is the worst disaster in state history, what does he actually mean? Worse than the floods last year that killed fifty people?
He's talking about two different measures of disaster. Last year was deadlier—more bodies, more immediate loss of life. But this year, he's saying, will cost more money to rebuild. The material damage will be deeper, wider, harder to recover from.
So it's possible to have fewer deaths but more destruction?
Absolutely. A flood that kills fifty people might hit one region hard and fast. These storms seem to have spread across the entire state, affecting nearly twenty thousand people. That's a different kind of catastrophe—not as immediately lethal, but more diffuse, more expensive to repair.
Why does the governor need to declare a state of calamity? What does that actually unlock?
It's legal permission to act fast. Once it's declared, state agencies can move resources without the usual bureaucratic delays. Money can flow. Shelters can open. Municipalities can ask for help and get it approved. Without the declaration, you're stuck in normal procedures.
And the president flying in—is that just politics, or does it matter?
It matters practically. The federal government has resources the state doesn't have alone. But yes, it's also a signal: we see you, we're here, this is important. In a disaster, that visibility matters to people who've lost everything.
What happens after May 2nd?
The real work begins. One hundred eighty days of coordinating shelter, clearing debris, rebuilding infrastructure, accounting for the missing. The declaration buys you the legal framework to do all that without stopping to ask permission.