While Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, is ravaged by floods, red flags have been raised in Maranhão, a northeastern state 4,000 kilometers away.
Heavier-than-expected rainfall led city administrations to declare a state of emergency, as floods and storms have affected 4,000 people (with one casualty) across 31 municipalities, including the state capital, São Luís. Declaring a state of emergency facilitates extraordinary relief measures and allows city halls to spend money beyond fiscal responsibility controls.
The issues in Maranhão are far less severe than the climate crisis affecting Rio Grande do Sul, as rainfall has been more spread out over the last few weeks.
Around 3,000 families in Maranhão have been forced out of their homes.
The floods follow a recent drought that damaged corn crops in the state, with an impact yet to be measured.
Meteorologists claim that the high volume of rain is due to the uncommon wind activity in the so-called Intertropical Convergence Zone, which is influenced by the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean waters.
Due to global warming and El Niño, ocean temperatures have reached record highs in the last 12 months and are significantly higher than usual for this period of the year, as the BBC reported.
According to Maranhão state authorities, the situation is less worrying than the one experienced in 2023, for example, when more than 60 cities were affected and more than 35,000 families were displaced.
On social media, images of floods from previous years are circulating as if they represent the current situation.
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