Karine Pitana had just paid off the last installment on her new couch when floods tore through her hometown of Canoas in southern Brazil nearly two weeks ago. It was just a piece of furniture, but for the 42-year-old nurse, there’s a pride in having worked hard for everything she owns. The picture is a little different in Porto Alegre, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul. It oozes a rich colonial history in its grand architecture and a sense of luxury in its large marinas. Landing pads for private helicopters are not an uncommon site. Weeks of floods triggered by record-smashing rainfall have left parts of southern Brazil in disaster, also laying bare some of the country’s persistent social problems: inequality in the emerging economy is still rife; crime rates remain high; and local governance is often dogged by mismanagement and, sometimes, corruption. Karine Pitana, 42, holding her…
