HEAVY rain continued on Saturday in Brazil’s already flooded Rio Grande do Sul state, where many of those remaining are poor, with limited ability to move to less dangerous areas.

More than six inches of rain was set to fall over the weekend and will probably worsen flooding, according to the Friday afternoon bulletin from Brazil’s national meteorology institute. 

It said there is also a high likelihood that winds will intensify and water levels rise in the Patos lagoon next to the state capital, Porto Alegre, and the surrounding area.

As of Saturday afternoon, heavy rains were falling in the northern and central regions of the state, and water levels were rising.

Carlos Sampaio lives in a low-income community next to soccer club Gremio’s stadium in Porto Alegre. His two-storey home doubles as a sports bar.

Even though the first floor is inundated, he said he won’t leave, partly out of fear of looters in his high-crime neighbourhood, where police carry assault rifles as they patrol its flooded streets. 

Mr Sampaio said: “I am analysing how safe I am, and I know that my belongings aren’t safe at all.”

At least 136 people have died in the floods since they began last week, and 125 more are missing, local authorities said on Friday. 

The number of people displaced from their homes because of the torrential rains has surpassed 400,000, of whom 70,000 are sheltering in gyms, schools and other temporary locations.

Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently because of climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

But there is also a need for social policy responses, said Natalie Unterstell, president of Talanoa Institute, a Rio de Janeiro-based climate policy think tank.

“Providing an effective response to climate change in Brazil requires us to combat inequalities,” Ms Unterstell said.