Houses under water, roads completely flooded, people on roofs waiting for rescue and others in shelters clinging to life because they lost everything, is the panorama that is experienced in the south of Brazil, due to the strong storms that They have hit the region since Monday.
The devastating floods are already leaving at least 56 dead and 67 missingaccording to the latest report from the authorities released this Saturday.
Rio Grande do Sula border state with Uruguay and Argentina, is the most impacted region but the scourge of the rains is also beginning to be felt in the neighboring state of St. Catarinawhich has already reported the first fatality and where 33 cities have been affected.
According to the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul, tens of thousands of people were evacuatedof which 8,168 are in public shelters and another 24,080 in the homes of relatives or friends.
The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leitesaid in a press conference that “numbers can change substantially”, as rescue forces have access to localities that remain isolated.
In total they are already 265 municipalities affectedmore than half of those that make up the state, including the regional capital, Porto Alegrewhose historic center was completely flooded after the Guaíba River overflowed, reaching its highest level in eight decades.
One day after visiting the affected region, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvastated that this was “one of the biggest floods” of which he was aware and repeated that the Government was not going to spare resources to address the tragedy.
The Armed Forces have deployed 936 soldiers, as well as nine aircraft, 98 ships and 70 vehicles to help in the rescue efforts, in addition to the 2,000 personnel of the regional rescue forces.
This Friday, the news agency EFE He accompanied members of the Army in the rescue efforts on the Guaibá River, coordinated by the military from a type of ferry, from which smaller boats left and arrived with the victims.
“It was a big relief,” he told EFE Celine Machado de Vargasone of the people rescued on the day.
Through tears, this 38-year-old woman said that she waited until the last minute with her father, mother and son to try to save some of the belongings. “But everything was left floating or destroyed,” she said.
Until now, The authorities have managed to rescue about 8,600 people in “air, sea and land operations carried out by the integrated response forces,” according to Governor Leite.
The National Institute of Meteorology of Brazil (Inmet) issued this Friday a red alert for heavy rains and the probability of flooding of large proportions in the region of the upper Uruguay channel, on the border with the Argentine province of Misiones.
Rain volumes greater than 60 millimeters are expected until noon on Saturday, potentially reaching a maximum of 100 millimeters in some parts of the Uruguay Valley.
Added to that is the risk of four dams breakinglocated in the cities of Cotipora, Bento Gonçalves, Cinnamon and São Martinho da Serra.
The authorities also warned that the water of the Guaibá River will continue to rise in the coming hours, which may cause new flooding in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre.
The weather situation also led the Porto Alegre international airport to cancel operations until further notice.
The situation in the south of the country also forced the Government to postpone the Unified National Public Competition, which was going to be held next Sunday simultaneously in 288 cities throughout the country, including several in Rio Grande do Sul, and for which 2.1 million applicants registered.
The mega job contest, a model never seen before in Brazil, seeks to select 6,640 officials who will be assigned to 21 entities and bodies of the federal public administration, through a unique selection process.
(With information from EFE)
