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According to the mayor, until now no one had to be transferred to the evacuee centers provided by the Municipality, but until now the victims were staying in the homes of relatives, but this space is ready to be occupied if necessary. protect neighbors who are affected by the flood.
Azcué also requested not to travel through the Costanera area, for security reasons and to avoid situations that put people’s physical integrity at risk. Also so as not to interfere in the evacuation and preventive tasks carried out in the place.
Attendance
It was on Saturday that the Emergency Committee was convened, led by Mayor Azcué, who pointed out ONE that the COE was also formed, set up at the North Station. “We are working in a coordinated manner with all the forces, with the Argentine Army, with intermediate institutions as well, within the framework of this protocol, which is already quite well-oiled, since our city has suffered many floods. In fact, we began a process on December 12 with a flood and evacuees.”he indicated.
Likewise, he specified: “We have installed a shelter, a center for evacuees in the 6th Tank Regiment, which is now ready to receive people who need it. So far the eight families have been evacuated to private homes. We have a team that is permanently available to carry out this type of transfer, with trucks and municipal personnel. HE He is also doing work with firefighters. The number we have is 103, which is free and is the only number to which people who have to be evacuated must contact.”
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On the other hand, he maintained that they work permanently monitoring the height of the river and weather conditions, and commented: “The Salto Grande Hydrology team, with whom we are in permanent contact, has minute-by-minute information on the upstream behavior of the Uruguay River and the climatic situation that is developing in southern Brazil. And of course this directly affects our city because that flow of water reaches the dam; The dam reaches a point where it cannot contain that flow of water and for obvious reasons has to open the floodgates. And that the first city that impacts is Concordia.”
Panorama
Yesterday it rained again in the Capital of Citrus and for today the National Meteorological Service (SMN) announces new rainfall, which will last at least until tomorrow morning. On this point, Azcué analyzed: “This complicates the picture, because obviously the flow of water increases, but more than anything because of the work that has to be done. The difficulty is greater when there are days of intense rain, like this Monday morning here in Concordia. We were also talking with Salto Grande to contain the dam a little, that is why now the level of the lake has risen, because it was decided not to open the floodgates and try to maintain the smallest possible flow of water to be able to have more time and maneuver without rain.”
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“Unfortunately the river is going to continue to rise. These are data that arise based on the forecasts given to us by the experts, the professionals we have in Salto Grande, and right here in the Emergency Committee. This is going to bring more evacuees, and we already know which area it will affect. Our team has a lot of experience in this, and that is why we already have the evacuee center prepared to receive them,” he explained, adding: “At certain levels of the river we know how many evacuees we are going to have, and that is very important, because it gives us the ability to have predictability. We know that if the river reaches 13 meters, we could have 70 families evacuated.”
READ MORE: Concordia: eight families were evacuated due to the rising river
He also mentioned that there are other self-evacuated families: “Many families are accustomed, unfortunately, to this type of situation, they handle information and have experience, so they know that when we announce that the river is going to reach a certain height, they foresee the situation, they anticipate, and they already have places to go, houses from family members many times. They already carry their things, or ask us to help them with the transfer, and that is done completely normally.”
Joint work
In this framework, Azcué recognized the COE’s ability to act quickly: “The people we have working at the COE have a lot of experience, they already know the families and they know that at a certain height of the river, at a certain level, you have to go look for them, and they also know that they have to get out. “It is about all this evacuation, this transfer, being preventive, which is what we ask of the citizens, that we anticipate events, and not have to work anymore when the water enters the homes.”
Finally, he expressed: “I want to highlight the support of Governor Rogelio Frigerio and his entire team, which is very important for us. On Saturday I had communication with him before going to the Emergency Committee meeting. That same day, the Minister of Human Development of the province, Verónica Berisso, attended, and at night the help from the province was arriving.”
