Heavy rains in southern Brazil leave at least 2 dead and 2,000 displaced
A 65-year-old man is also missing and more than 2,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, the agency added.
The rains have caused blackouts, landslides, washed-out roads and collapsed bridges across the state.
Many of the areas affected were damaged during the floods in May last year, which killed more than 100 people and prompted promises to take measures to avoid a repeat of the dramatic events.
'The state is better prepared,' Gov. Eduardo Leite said Wednesday on X, pointing to strengthened response teams and investments in river dredging to reduce the risk of flooding.
Some regions have been hit by more than 350 millimetres (14 inches) of rain since the weekend, Leite said.
One of the confirmed deaths is that of a 54-year-old woman in the municipality of Candelaria. Her husband is missing. Preliminary reports indicate that the couple attempted to cross a flooded area in a vehicle in the and were swept away, the civil defense agency said.
The agency advised people not to leave their homes, close windows and doors and remove electronic devices from sockets.
Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change.
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Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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Terri Graham is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, so if she stepped off her porch during the worst of the 2023 flood, water would encircle her waist. Graham's upstate New York town suffered a 1,000-year flood on July 9, 2023, and soon after, the governor declared a state of emergency. Nearly six inches of rain fell within a few hours that evening and would cause more than $1 million in property damage. 'It started in a town called Bloomfield — that's where the watershed starts,' says Graham, who works as a sales and account manager for a small business near her home in Canandaigua, New York. Unfortunately for Graham and her neighbors, her home insurance considered the extremely rare event 'an act of God' that wasn't covered by her policy. So, without insurance — and not wanting to gut her savings — Graham handled the financial aspects of her emergency the way she overcame three other surprise situations in recent years: by borrowing a personal loan. The storm was forecasted just two days before it arrived. Graham was interviewed on the local news about the run-up. 'We thought we were prepared,' she says. And while she prepared as much as she could with sandbags, it didn't stop the waters. Without a mandatory evacuation, Graham and her mother, who can't swim and was unable to board a rescue boat out of town, instead hunkered down. They went 10 days without power and 12 without clean drinking water. Perishable food in the fridge and freezer was lost. Appliances in the basement — including a water heater, furnace and electric panel — would need replacing. And Graham needed to stall mold growth with high-end humidifiers and air purification systems. 'I didn't want to run out and put them on one of my credit cards,' Graham says. Other costs, like hiring contractors, were likely to arise, and maxing out a credit card would have left her without funding. But that was for later. In the storm's immediate aftermath, Graham and her neighbors were in damage-control mode. Some were attempting to drive their cars like boats, causing wakes to push more water into homes like Graham's. She called 911, phoned the fire department and saw that everyone, from first responders to her neighbors, were 'overwhelmed.' 'So, at the beginning, I was thinking, 'Everything's going to be OK. Well, we'll be able to get through this. It's not a problem,'' Graham recalls. 'And then when insurance adjusters started coming around and giving the news that these were things that they weren't going to be able to help out with — was when I was like, 'I really need to get moving because I'm not sure how long it's going to take to get funding.'' Graham estimates that three to four days after getting the bad news from her insurance provider, she considered on borrowing a personal loan. 'Some people might've had more savings or things like that, but I didn't have that to fall back on,' Graham says. She also feared maxing out her credit card or emptying her emergency fund. Local officials had said power outages might span months. Graham went straight to online lender Best Egg. She had borrowed and repaid three personal loans from the company in the years since 2015 and appreciated its offer to amend her loan terms if she ever ran into financial difficulties. Graham's personal loan borrowing history Borrowing purpose Loan amount Divorce $6,500 Graham recalls paying $225 per hour to an attorney handling her situation, in and out of the courtroom. Credit card consolidation $4,000 Graham and her daughters took two vacations, not fully appreciating the costs upfront. 'It ended up being one of those things that was like, 'Oh, let's put it on the card. I'll put it on the card,'' Graham says. 'And then it was like, 'Oh my god, I put it on the card.'' College housing $5,000 Graham's daughter switched majors and had to enroll in summer school and needed a short-term rental. So, with the flood receding, Graham went about estimating the damage, mostly to her basement. After getting quotes for bigger-ticket items and contractors to install or repair them, she settled on $10,000, to be repaid over five years. 'I didn't want to take out too much,' Graham says. 'I didn't also want to leave myself short, and then I was going to end up having to utilize my credit cards anyway.' Related: How much of a personal loan can I get in 2025? Graham has about three years remaining on her personal loan repayment. She expresses confidence that the 2023 ordeal will end with a zero loan balance, like her past Best Egg borrowing. Graham says she's grateful that the Best Egg loans came just as she needed them, helping her to avoid higher-interest debt and credit damage. Hopefully, you can find relevant lessons from Graham's debt journey, too. Graham's answer Question for you Avoid credit card debt Graham says she might have been too cavalier about putting $4,000 in family vacations on her credit cards. 'So, I guess I wish at the beginning I had been a little bit street-smarter about that,' she adds. Are you overreliant on the plastic in your wallet to the point that you're not able to zero your balance each month? Grow your emergency fund After the flood, Graham says she was fearful of raiding her rainy day savings, lest other expenses crop up. Nowadays, she makes weekly deposits to the fund to insulate herself even more from emergency situations. Do you have three to six months or more of expenses saved in a high-yield savings account so that you can avoid a loan or reduce your loan amount in the case of an emergency? Practicing good financial habits Borrowing and paying off three previous personal loans has boosted Graham's payment history and, in turn, credit score. That helped to make up for a debt-to-income ratio dragged up by cosigning her daughters' student loans. If the time comes for borrowing, will you qualify for the best personal loan rates and terms? Shop around for the lowest-rate loan When her neighborhood flooding caused so much damage, Graham didn't have the time for an expansive shopping around process. She secured a 15.25 percent rate from Best Egg, far lower than the rates of her past personal loans — but she might have nabbed an even lower interest rate elsewhere. Do you know how to shop for a personal loan, including with banks, credit unions, online lenders and marketplaces? Choose a lender that offers what you (might) need Graham values the repayment flexibility that Best Egg offers. The lender works with borrowers on adjusting payment amounts and due dates for those suddenly unable to afford their monthly dues. If you need to borrow, what loan features would matter most to you? Set yourself up for success in repayment Graham uses a budget, plus Best Egg tools to understand her cash flow and feel more ready to repay her debt. Do you have a strong grasp of how much of your money comes in and goes out each month, and how it could impact your potential loan repayment? If you're considering a personal loan, whether for an unforeseen or planned expense, consider Graham's experiences and lessons. They can help you avoid common personal loan mistakes. Also, if your finances aren't in ideal shape, perhaps because you've had a run of bad luck, don't forget to be your own biggest cheerleader. As Graham says: 'Just because you're financially stressed or you're maybe really feeling the pinch, you can start over anytime. Make a positive change and keep moving forward, but give yourself a little bit of grace.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
