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Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints help load emergency supplies from an Azul airplane onto a truck at a military airport in Canoas, Brazil, following severe flooding in the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 8, 2024. Photo courtesy of Divulgação Azul.All rights reserved.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sending humanitarian aid to those affected by the recent rains in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Some 200,000 people have been forced out of their homes, with at least 90 people dead and more than 130 missing.
The Brazil Area Presidency has assembled staff and resources to assist those affected by the floods. A letter sent to presidents and stake presidents from Elder Joni L. Koch, Brazil Area President, and his counselors Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela and Elder Mark D. Eddy, all General Authority Seventies, states that 21 meetinghouses are now being used as shelters for evacuated bishop people , and thousands of basic food packages provided by the Church to the state Civil Defense have already begun to be distributed to the population.
Missionaries from the Church helped unload emergency supplies from an Azul airplane at a military airport in the city of Canoas on Wednesday, May 8. Working with Azul Airlines, the Church is planning to send an aircraft from Saõ Paulo to Porto Alegre with supplies donated by the Church on Thursday, May 9.
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Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints help unload emergency supplies from an Azul airplane at a military airport in Canoas, Brazil, following severe flooding in the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 8, 2024. Photo courtesy of Blue Disclosure.All rights reserved.
Other humanitarian aid initiatives are underway in close coordination with the government to help the community. The Church’s Welfare and Self-Reliance and Family Services departments are coordinating support and efforts to meet the needs of members as well.
Authorities consider the flooding the state’s worst-ever crisis caused by natural disasters.
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Aerial view of the Center of Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul after the overflow of the Guaiba River on May 5, 2024, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rains have heavily struck Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul causing damage to the infrastructure and displacing more than 20,000 people. Authorities report over 30 fatalities and expect the death toll to increase while dozens of people are still missing. Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images.All rights reserved.
News reports say some 80% of the population is without running water right now, a week into the flooding. Many also do not have telephone or internet services.
The airport, bus station and main roads are all blocked or closed going into the capital of Porto Alegre — and more than two-thirds of the nearly 500 cities in the state are affected by the flood waters. Field hospitals have been set up to help those affected.
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Firefighters rescue a man and his dog from a flooded area at the city center of Sao Sebastiao do Cai, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil on May 2, 2024. The death toll from a severe storm in Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil , rose to 13, amid the “worst disaster” in the history of the state where President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva traveled on Thursday. Photo by Anselmo Cunha / AFP) via Getty Images.All rights reserved.
Social media posts on the Church’s Autossuficiência Brasil and Brazil Area accounts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also explain that the Church is responding to the disaster.
Thousands of essential items are being donated, including basic baskets, mattresses, bedding and blankets, hygiene kits, cleaning kits, drinking water, personal protective equipment and tools.
These donations are being coordinated in collaboration with the State Civil Defense. Also, local church leaders are coordinating efforts to help the community.
“[T]he Brazil Area office is mobilized to do everything possible to help and help the population of Rio Grande do Sul, our dear brothers and sisters and friends, at this time of great sorrow,” the post said in Portuguese.
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The post goes on to say that Church members who want to make donations to those affected by the calamity can do so through official government organizations that are coordinating donations through civil defense and social funds.
Some of the cities in Rio Grande do Sul — roughly the size of Ecuador — were already suffering from at least three previous major floods in less than eight months.
The rains are expected to continue in the area, along with high winds.
Mary Richards, Church News, contributed to this story.
