Stranded for nearly three weeks by record flooding in southern Brazil, one tiny Indigenous community is determined not to evacuate what they consider sacred ancestral lands that are in dispute with real estate developers. The Mbya Guarani people have been living since 2018 on a peninsula in far southern Porto Alegre, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul.  The community has long been at odds with Arado Empreendimentos Imobiliarios, the firm that has been planning a residential development on nearly 426 hectares (1,053 acres) in the area for over a decade, part of which is in dispute. Heavy rains have battered Rio Grande do Sul since late April, causing historic floods that have killed over 160 people, while nearly 100 residents are still missing and more than 500,000 have been displaced. Even with the devastating floods, community leaders say they would not consider leaving.

Related Brazilian floods articles: 

• France 24: Deforestation exacerbated deadly Brazil floods, say experts
• Inside Climate News: In Southern Brazil, Rescue Efforts Continue as Ongoing Flooding Leaves Hundreds of Thousands Displaced
• The Revelator – Blog: Could Brazil’s Catastrophic Flooding Cause Extinctions?
• ABC News: Flooding forecast to worsen in Brazil’s south, where often only the poor remain