The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil

ABSTRACT We present an overview of the unprecedent hydrological event that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul state in late April and early May 2024, causing floods and landslides in a scale that was not seen before in Brazil. The rainfall that caused the disaster is incomparable to any recent event in B...

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Main Authors: Walter Collischonn, Fernando Mainardi Fan, Iporã Possantti, Fernando Dornelles, Rodrigo Paiva, Matheus Sampaio Medeiros, Gean Paulo Michel, Fernando Jorge Corrêa Magalhães Filho, Sofia Royer Moraes, Francisco Fernando Noronha Marcuzzo, Rossano Dalla Lana Michel, Tamara Leitzke Caldeira Beskow, Samuel Beskow, Elisa Helena Leão Fernandes, Leonardo Laipelt dos Santos, Anderson Ruhoff, Masato Kobiyama, Gilberto Loguercio Collares, Franco Buffon, Emanuel Duarte, Stefany Lima, Fernando Setembrino Cruz Meirelles, Daniel Gustavo Allasia Piccilli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos 2025-03-01
Series:Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos
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Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2318-03312025000100700&tlng=en
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author Walter Collischonn
Fernando Mainardi Fan
Iporã Possantti
Fernando Dornelles
Rodrigo Paiva
Matheus Sampaio Medeiros
Gean Paulo Michel
Fernando Jorge Corrêa Magalhães Filho
Sofia Royer Moraes
Francisco Fernando Noronha Marcuzzo
Rossano Dalla Lana Michel
Tamara Leitzke Caldeira Beskow
Samuel Beskow
Elisa Helena Leão Fernandes
Leonardo Laipelt dos Santos
Anderson Ruhoff
Masato Kobiyama
Gilberto Loguercio Collares
Franco Buffon
Emanuel Duarte
Stefany Lima
Fernando Setembrino Cruz Meirelles
Daniel Gustavo Allasia Piccilli
author_facet Walter Collischonn
Fernando Mainardi Fan
Iporã Possantti
Fernando Dornelles
Rodrigo Paiva
Matheus Sampaio Medeiros
Gean Paulo Michel
Fernando Jorge Corrêa Magalhães Filho
Sofia Royer Moraes
Francisco Fernando Noronha Marcuzzo
Rossano Dalla Lana Michel
Tamara Leitzke Caldeira Beskow
Samuel Beskow
Elisa Helena Leão Fernandes
Leonardo Laipelt dos Santos
Anderson Ruhoff
Masato Kobiyama
Gilberto Loguercio Collares
Franco Buffon
Emanuel Duarte
Stefany Lima
Fernando Setembrino Cruz Meirelles
Daniel Gustavo Allasia Piccilli
author_sort Walter Collischonn
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT We present an overview of the unprecedent hydrological event that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul state in late April and early May 2024, causing floods and landslides in a scale that was not seen before in Brazil. The rainfall that caused the disaster is incomparable to any recent event in Brazil at large spatial and temporal scale. The intense and long-lasting precipitation led to record floods from small rivers with drainage areas below 1000 km2 to the Patos Lagoon, which drains more than 180,000 km2. The rainfall also led to landslides that rank first in Brazil in terms of spatial scale and number of occurrences. Mountain rivers experienced flash floods with extreme water levels, while in the lowlands the large rivers and the Patos Lagoon experienced long duration flooding, with stage remaining high for about 30 days. The flood event is probably ranked first in terms of displaced people and damage to property and infrastructure in Brazil. Almost 200 fatalities occurred due to the disaster and protection structure failures. The April-May hydrological event show a glimpse of what can be expected along the coming decades due to climate change in a region that covers South Brazil, and parts of the neighboring countries.
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spelling doaj-art-47573524df9944739d2cb75fada36acc2025-08-20T02:53:34ZengAssociação Brasileira de Recursos HídricosRevista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos2318-03312025-03-013010.1590/2318-0331.302520240119The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern BrazilWalter Collischonnhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7630-396XFernando Mainardi Fanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0371-7851Iporã Possanttihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2194-4516Fernando Dornelleshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8639-8934Rodrigo Paivahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2918-6681Matheus Sampaio Medeiroshttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-9132-8666Gean Paulo Michelhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7857-1941Fernando Jorge Corrêa Magalhães Filhohttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5447-0137Sofia Royer Moraeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7045-7661Francisco Fernando Noronha Marcuzzohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0737-668XRossano Dalla Lana Michelhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7767-6189Tamara Leitzke Caldeira Beskowhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4471-9386Samuel Beskowhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3900-0895Elisa Helena Leão Fernandeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1869-0233Leonardo Laipelt dos Santoshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5735-4809Anderson Ruhoffhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3585-2022Masato Kobiyamahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0615-9867Gilberto Loguercio Collareshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4910-5420Franco Buffonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7353-7368Emanuel Duartehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8856-8375Stefany Limahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3796-9005Fernando Setembrino Cruz Meirelleshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1483-8838Daniel Gustavo Allasia Piccillihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4519-8404ABSTRACT We present an overview of the unprecedent hydrological event that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul state in late April and early May 2024, causing floods and landslides in a scale that was not seen before in Brazil. The rainfall that caused the disaster is incomparable to any recent event in Brazil at large spatial and temporal scale. The intense and long-lasting precipitation led to record floods from small rivers with drainage areas below 1000 km2 to the Patos Lagoon, which drains more than 180,000 km2. The rainfall also led to landslides that rank first in Brazil in terms of spatial scale and number of occurrences. Mountain rivers experienced flash floods with extreme water levels, while in the lowlands the large rivers and the Patos Lagoon experienced long duration flooding, with stage remaining high for about 30 days. The flood event is probably ranked first in terms of displaced people and damage to property and infrastructure in Brazil. Almost 200 fatalities occurred due to the disaster and protection structure failures. The April-May hydrological event show a glimpse of what can be expected along the coming decades due to climate change in a region that covers South Brazil, and parts of the neighboring countries.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2318-03312025000100700&tlng=enNatural disasterExtreme hydrological eventsExceptional floods
spellingShingle Walter Collischonn
Fernando Mainardi Fan
Iporã Possantti
Fernando Dornelles
Rodrigo Paiva
Matheus Sampaio Medeiros
Gean Paulo Michel
Fernando Jorge Corrêa Magalhães Filho
Sofia Royer Moraes
Francisco Fernando Noronha Marcuzzo
Rossano Dalla Lana Michel
Tamara Leitzke Caldeira Beskow
Samuel Beskow
Elisa Helena Leão Fernandes
Leonardo Laipelt dos Santos
Anderson Ruhoff
Masato Kobiyama
Gilberto Loguercio Collares
Franco Buffon
Emanuel Duarte
Stefany Lima
Fernando Setembrino Cruz Meirelles
Daniel Gustavo Allasia Piccilli
The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil
Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos
Natural disaster
Extreme hydrological events
Exceptional floods
title The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil
title_full The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil
title_fullStr The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil
title_full_unstemmed The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil
title_short The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil
title_sort exceptional hydrological disaster of april may 2024 in southern brazil
topic Natural disaster
Extreme hydrological events
Exceptional floods
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2318-03312025000100700&tlng=en
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