SAO PAULO — More than 100 dolphins have died in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in the past week as the region grapples with a severe drought, and many more could die soon if water temperatures remain high, experts say.
The Mamiraua Institute, a research group of Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, said two more dead dolphins were found Monday in the region around Tefe Lake, which is key for mammals and fish in the area. Video provided by the institute showed vultures picking at the dolphin carcasses beached on the lakeside. Thousands of fish have also died, local media reported.
Experts believe high water temperatures are the most likely cause of the deaths in the lakes in the region. Temperatures since last week have exceeded 102 degrees Fahrenheit in the Tefe Lake region.
A fisherman stands on his boat Sept. 27 as he navigates near thousands of dead fish awash on the banks of Piranha Lake due to a severe drought in the state of Amazonas, in Manacapuru, Brazil.
The Brazilian government’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, which manages conservation areas, said last week it had sent teams of veterinarians and aquatic mammal experts to investigate the deaths.
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There had been some 1,400 river dolphins in Tefe Lake, said Miriam Marmontel, a researcher from the Mamiraua Institute.
“In one week we have already lost around 120 animals between the two of them, which could represent 5% to 10% of the population,” Marmontel said.
Workers have recovered carcasses of dolphins since last week in a region where dry rivers have impacted impoverished riverside communities and stuck their boats in the sand. Amazonas Gov. Wilson Lima on Friday declared a state of emergency due to the drought.
Nicson Marreira, mayor of Tefe, a city of 60,000 residents, said his government was unable to deliver food directly to some isolated communities because the rivers are dry.
Ayan Fleischmann, the Geospatial coordinator at the Mamirauá Institute, said the drought has had a major impact on the riverside communities in the Amazon region.
“Many communities are becoming isolated, without access to good quality water, without access to the river, which is their main means of transportation,” he said.
Fleischmann said water temperatures rose from 89 degrees Friday to almost 100 degrees Sunday.
He said they are still determining the cause of the dolphin deaths but that the high temperature remains the main candidate.
Most expensive October weather disasters of the last 40 years
Most expensive October weather disasters of the last 40 years
On Oct. 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel made landfall on the border of North and South Carolina. Its path through the Caribbean Sea and Haiti had already cost hundreds of lives, and as it transformed from a Category 4 hurricane to a tropical storm along the Carolina coastline, it wrought an 18-foot storm surge and demolished seaside buildings and roads.
To date, Hazel is the strongest hurricane to hit the North Carolina coast. Its damage in the Carolinas was estimated to cost $163 million, equivalent to $1.8 billion in today’s dollars. It caused another $1.6 billion in damage throughout other parts of the U.S.
What was once a standout event has become more common as climate change has accelerated the number of powerful hurricanes. Beyond tropical cyclones, the U.S. is seeing more frequent billion-dollar climate-related disasters. During the 2010s, there were 131 events that caused at least $1 billion in damage, compared to only 33 in the 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In total, the U.S. has experienced 371 billion-dollar disasters since 1980, 18 of which began in October. April and June have been the start for the most costly severe weather events, with 55 and 54 respectively. October may not be the most intense time of the year, but the end of hurricane season and fall tornado surges in the South are frequent causes of weather disasters during the month.
Stacker used data collected by the NOAA to break down the costliest weather disasters since 1980 that began in the month of October. All cost data is listed in current dollars, and location data is included for storms based on states listed in the written report of each event.
Read on to see the most expensive events, when they happened, their costs, and the number of deaths they caused.
#18. Northeastern Winter Storm (October 2011)
– Disaster type: Winter Storm
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $1.2 billion
– Total deaths: 1
– Begin date: Oct. 29, 2011
– End date: Oct. 30, 2011
– States most affected: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
#17. New England Flooding (October 1996)
– Disaster type: Flooding
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $1.3 billion
– Total deaths: 1
– Begin date: Oct. 19, 1996
– End date: Oct. 22, 1996
– States most affected: Maine and Massachusetts
#16. Central Severe Weather (October 2006)
– Disaster type: Severe Storm
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $1.3 billion
– Total deaths: 1
– Begin date: Oct. 2, 2006
– End date: Oct. 5, 2006
– States most affected: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
#15. South Florida Flooding (October 2000)
– Disaster type: Flooding
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $1.6 billion
– Total deaths: 3
– Begin date: Oct. 3, 2000
– End date: Oct. 4, 2000
– States most affected: Florida
#14. Texas Flooding (October 1998)
– Disaster type: Flooding
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $1.8 billion
– Total deaths: 31
– Begin date: Oct. 16, 1998
– End date: Oct. 24, 1998
– States most affected: Texas
#13. Texas Flooding (October 1994)
– Disaster type: Flooding
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $2.0 billion
– Total deaths: 19
– Begin date: Oct. 16, 1994
– End date: Oct. 25, 1994
– States most affected: Texas
#12. Texas Tornadoes and Central Severe Weather (October 2019)
– Disaster type: Severe Storm
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $2.0 billion
– Total deaths: 2
– Begin date: Oct. 20, 2019
– End date: Oct. 20, 2019
– States most affected: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee
#11. South Carolina and East Coast Flooding (October 2015)
– Disaster type: Flooding
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $2.6 billion
– Total deaths: 25
– Begin date: Oct. 1, 2015
– End date: Oct. 5, 2015
– States most affected: South Carolina
#10. Hurricane Delta (October 2020)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $3.4 billion
– Total deaths: 5
– Begin date: Oct. 9, 2020
– End date: Oct. 11, 2020
– States most affected: Louisiana, eastern Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia
#9. Hurricane Juan (October 1985)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $4.2 billion
– Total deaths: 63
– Begin date: Oct. 27, 1985
– End date: Oct. 31, 1985
– States most affected: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida
#8. Hurricane Zeta (October 2020)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $5.1 billion
– Total deaths: 6
– Begin date: Oct. 28, 2020
– End date: Oct. 29, 2020
– States most affected: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
#7. Arizona Severe Weather (October 2010)
– Disaster type: Severe Storm
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $5.3 billion
– Total deaths: 0
– Begin date: Oct. 5, 2010
– End date: Oct. 6, 2010
– States most affected: Arizona
#6. Oakland Firestorm (October 1991)
– Disaster type: Wildfire
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $7.3 billion
– Total deaths: 25
– Begin date: Oct. 1, 1991
– End date: Oct. 31, 1991
– States most affected: California
#5. Hurricane Opal (October 1995)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $9.3 billion
– Total deaths: 27
– Begin date: Oct. 4, 1995
– End date: Oct. 6, 1995
– States most affected: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina
#4. Hurricane Matthew (October 2016)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $12.6 billion
– Total deaths: 49
– Begin date: Oct. 8, 2016
– End date: Oct. 12, 2016
– States most affected: North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia
#3. Hurricane Wilma (October 2005)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $29.1 billion
– Total deaths: 35
– Begin date: Oct. 24, 2005
– End date: Oct. 24, 2005
– States most affected: Florida
#2. Hurricane Michael (October 2018)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $30.2 billion
– Total deaths: 49
– Begin date: Oct. 10, 2018
– End date: Oct. 11, 2018
– States most affected: Florida
#1. Hurricane Sandy (October 2012)
– Disaster type: Tropical Cyclone
– Total cost (inflation-adjusted): $85.9 billion
– Total deaths: 159
– Begin date: Oct. 30, 2012
– End date: Oct. 31, 2012
– States most affected: Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire
Data reporting by Emma Rubin. Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.
