A major flooding caused by heavy rains in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul has left hundreds of towns under water and caused widespread power and water outages, forcing the residents there to take shelter in open fields and on the roadsides.
Heavy rains and resulting flooding and mudslides had killed 90 people, left 132 others missing, injured 361 and forced more than 200,000 local residents to evacuate over the past eight days, according to the civil defense agency on Tuesday.
Over 1.4 million people in 388 of the state's 497 towns, including the capital city Porto Alegre, were affected by the disasters, according to the agency.
"We lost everything and now we're in the only place we could find for shelter. Everything is gone, we start to miss our homes. If the water goes down, we will thank God and return to our house. Even then, we will have to struggle to get our lives back. We will need help," said a flood victim.
"We're on the side of the road relying on the kindness of drivers passing by. They've been giving us food, water and medicine. We really need more medicine, especially for a woman here with diabetes, she's almost out," said another.
More than 85 percent of the city's population has lost access to potable water, forcing the authorities to ration the water supply.
The capital's airport, the Salgado Filho, had to be shut down after the terminal and runways were flooded by waters from the Guaiba River, further hampering efforts to bring aid in for the local population.
Despite the clear blue skies seen on Tuesday in Porto Alegre, the region could see another setback in following days. The weather forecasters have predicted that more storms are likely on the way.
Major flooding in southern Brazil leaves towns under water, causes power, water outrages
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday, state-run IRIB TV reported.
Raisi’s helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters which was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, to the provincial capital Tabriz where Raisi was scheduled to attend the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.
"On May 19 local time, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi made a hard landing in East Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. According to our investigation in Iran, the incident took place near the Varzaghan area of East Azerbaijan. From the live broadcast on Iranian national television, we can see that the entire area of the accident site is in a state of severe foggy weather, which caused great trouble to the search and rescue work. In addition to Iranian President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan Province, and other officials and entourage were also on the helicopter," said Li Jiannan, a CCTV reporter in Iran.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous terrain and the bad weather conditions.
Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed near the possible crash site.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.
Following the incident, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed his hope that President Raisi and accompanying officials would be able to return home safely, saying that everyone should pray for them. Iranian people do not need to worry, and the work of the country and the government will not be affected, he said.
Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, expressed concern over the developments and said they were ready to assist in search and rescue efforts.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the same day, saying that Türkiye is following the incident and hopes that Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other Iranian officials are safe and healthy. Türkiye has taken action to provide support for the search and rescue operation, the statement said.
Iranian president's helicopter makes hard landing in NW province
