Paraná River continues rising, reaches 23.90 m on our gauge

Update (10/15): both Paraná gauges stopped transmitting on 10/13 at the peak: the ANA gauge (last reading 23.71 m at 10 a.m.) and the Paraguayan meteorology gauge in Ciudad del Este (29.27 m, 1.13 m below its maximum of 30.40 m in 2023). Continuing to measure: Itaipu released 21,040 m³/s on 10/13, the largest flow of this flood (ONS), and the Iguaçu River reached 15,800 m³/s at 4 p.m. on 10/14 and began to fall at night. Together they suggest the Paraná at its peak or near it.

Update (10/14): Itaipu estimated on the night of 10/13 that the Paraná could reach 121 m elevation at the Friendship Bridge on Wednesday, above the 119 m at which houses in Porto Meira begin to be affected. Civil Defense points to the most impacted areas in Foz: Porto de Areia, Catamarã, Cataratas Yacht Club and Amambay Club, where there are no residences; in Ciudad del Este, about 170 families in the San Rafael neighborhood were evacuated. The plant opened the second spillway gate (10,104 m³/s released on 10/13, according to ONS). Our ANA gauge has had no new reading since 10/13 at 10 a.m. (23.71 m) because the station stopped transmitting. Source: Itaipu, via Tribuna do Paraná.

Update (10/13, 6 a.m.): the river kept rising and recorded 23.90 m, 2.82 m higher in 24 hours and a new maximum of our series.

The Paraná River recorded 21.88 m at 11 a.m. on October 12 at ANA station 64918000, 7.5 km above the Friendship Bridge. That is 5.09 m more than 24 hours earlier and about three times the median of the series that Guia 3 has been tracking since May 2026 (7.29 m). Until this flood, the highest level of the series was 15.98 m on 10/10. On October 9, when we published the first record, the river was at 15.48 m.

Why the Paraná rose so much

Heavy weekend rain filled both the Paraná and Iguaçu basins simultaneously. Itaipu, 14 km upstream of the bridge, released 16,735 m³/s on the 11th (ONS) and began opening the spillway, returning about 13.9 k m³/s to the river from turbines and spillway. On the morning of 10/12 at 9 a.m., the plant started releasing 17,318 m³/s, the largest volume in 12 months, according to the Misiones press. Below the plant, the Paraná also receives the Iguaçu, which broke the record of our series at the Falls in the early hours of 10/12.

What Itaipu forecasts

The Itaipu Flood Commission bulletin on Sunday (the 11th) forecasts a water level of 115.10 m on Monday (12) and 115.14 m on Tuesday (13) at the Friendship Bridge, compared with 110.4 m on Sunday morning. The plant warned the Civil Defenses of Brazil and Paraguay and indicated possible impact on houses and structures on the Brazilian side as well.

Itaipu’s elevation and our gauge are not comparable: the elevation is altitude, while the ANA gauge is the local station scale. Both rise and fall together.

Who is at risk

• Ciudad del Este: low-lying riverside areas, such as the San Rafael neighborhood, are the first to flood; families have already been moved to shelters, according to Itaipu.
• Foz do Iguaçu: riverside areas of the Paraná, per the plant’s warning. If at risk, call Civil Defense (199).
• Rain: an orange storm alert from INMET for Foz is in effect until 11:59 p.m. today, with flood risk, and a DMH alert for northern Alto Paraná.
• On the river: in Puerto Iguazú, the Argentine Naval Prefecture suspended boat tours, sport navigation and cross-border river traffic on 10/12. On the Brazilian side, confirm with the operator before any nautical excursion.

River level, hour by hour, is available at border climate.

Source: ANA (station 64918000) and ONS, with the Itaipu Binational flood bulletin.