In the southern reaches of Brazil, officials worked tirelessly on Sunday to extract individuals from surging floods and mudflows, confronting what is now deemed the area's most extensive climate catastrophe on record.

The disaster has claimed a minimum of 78 lives, compelling 115,000 individuals to evacuate their residences.

Rescue Efforts Continue During Floods And Landslides In Rio Grande Do Sul
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL - MAY 07: Residents leave their homes walking through the flooded streets of the Cidade Baixa neighborhood on May 7, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rescue efforts continue in Porto Alegre due to the floods caused by the heavy rains that have battered Brazilian State of Rio Grande Do Sul. A State of Public Calamity has been called by local government while 281 municipalities have been affected, thousands of people have been displaced and damages in infrastructure cause difficulties to access affected areas or big power outages around the state. Photo by Jefferson Bernardes/Getty Images

Whole urban centers found themselves submerged, with numerous individuals isolated from civilization due to the deluge, stemming from incessant rainfall over several days.

Within Porto Alegre, the primary city of Rio Grande do Sul, inhabitants sought refuge atop their rooftops while others maneuvered through waterlogged streets using canoes or small vessels.

Rescue Efforts Continue During Floods And Landslides In Rio Grande Do Sul
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL - MAY 07: Residents of the Cidade Baixa neighborhood are evacuated on a boat on May 7, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rescue efforts continue in Porto Alegre due to the floods caused by the heavy rains that have battered Brazilian State of Rio Grande Do Sul. A State of Public Calamity has been called by local government while 281 municipalities have been affected, thousands of people have been displaced and damages in infrastructure cause difficulties to access affected areas or big power outages around the state. Photo by Jefferson Bernardes/Getty Images

Following what a meteorologist described as "a calamitous mix" of climate variations and the influence of El Niño, over 3,000 military personnel, firefighters, and other emergency responders endeavored to reach citizens, many of whom were trapped without running water or electricity. Authorities from civil defense reported a minimum of 105 individuals as unaccounted.

"It looks like a scene out of a war, and after it is over it will require a post-war approach," said Eduardo Leite, Governor of Rio Grande do Sul.

TOPSHOT-BRAZIL-WEATHER-FLOODS
TOPSHOT - Aerial view of the Arena do Gremio Stadium of the Brazilian football team Gremio in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on May 7, 2024. Since the unprecedented deluge started last week, at least 85 people have died and more than 150,000 were ejected from their homes by floods and mudslides in Rio Grande do Sul state, authorities said. (Photo by CARLOS FABAL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS FABAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Brazil President Luiz Lula da Silva pledged that the administration would allocate ample resources for the rebuilding efforts. Apart from Porto Alegre, an additional 341 municipalities and rural areas have borne the brunt of the deluge.

Military personnel are establishing makeshift medical facilities following the evacuation of hundreds of patients from conventional hospitals.

"Everyone helps in their own way, as they can," said 32-year-old Luis Eduardo da Silva who volunteered with rescue efforts.

Rescue Efforts Continue During Floods And Landslides In Rio Grande Do Sul
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL - MAY 07: Residents of the Cidade Baixa neighborhood receive medical attention after being evacuated on May 7, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rescue efforts continue in Porto Alegre due to the floods caused by the heavy rains that have battered Brazilian State of Rio Grande Do Sul. A State of Public Calamity has been called by local government while 281 municipalities have been affected, thousands of people have been displaced and damages in infrastructure cause difficulties to access affected areas or big power outages around the state. Photo by Jefferson Bernardes/Getty Images

The Guaiba River, coursing through the city of 1.4 million inhabitants, surged to an unprecedented height of 5.3 meters (17.4 feet), as reported by the local authorities, surpassing the previous record of 4.76 meters set during the catastrophic floods of 1941.

"Rio Grande do Sul has always been a meeting point between tropical and polar air masses," climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino shared with AFP. "But these interactions intensified with climate change" to create "a disastrous cocktail that makes the atmosphere more unstable and encourages storms."

Rescue Efforts Continue During Floods And Landslides In Rio Grande Do Sul
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL - MAY 07: Evacuated residents of the Cidade Baixa neighborhood transport a bird cage on May 7, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rescue efforts continue in Porto Alegre due to the floods caused by the heavy rains that have battered Brazilian State of Rio Grande Do Sul. A State of Public Calamity has been called by local government while 281 municipalities have been affected, thousands of people have been displaced and damages in infrastructure cause difficulties to access affected areas or big power outages around the state. Photo by Jefferson Bernardes/Getty Images

Rosana Custodio, a 37-year-old nurse, evacuated her inundated residence in Porto Alegre alongside her husband and three children.

"During the night on Thursday the waters began to rise very quickly," she told AFP in a WhatsApp correspondence. "In a hurry, we went out to look for a safer place. But we couldn't walk... My husband put our two little ones in a kayak and rowed with bamboo. My son and I swam to the end of the street." Her family was safe, but "we've lost everything we had."

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