The rain doesn’t stop and Rio Grande do Sul faces a disaster with flooding in dozens of cities and catastrophic floods in the valleys | GUSTAVO GHISLENI/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY
In a dramatic tone, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul Eduardo Leite stated late this Wednesday afternoon that the state is facing “the worst disaster in its history”, referring to the damage and victims left by an episode of extraordinary rain. with catastrophic floods, although in 1941 the extent of the floods was greater. Leite also announced the suspension of classes in the state education network.
“Unfortunately, it will be the biggest disaster that our State has faced, bigger than the one we saw last year. We are living in a very critical moment”, said the president at a press conference in Porto Alegre.
The latest balance from the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul counts 10 people dead and 21 missing. There are 107 municipalities and 19,110 people affected. More than 4,300 people are outside their homes.
“Unfortunately, this number is expected to increase a lot. The numbers are imprecise, because they increase a lot.” The governor stated that more than 900 rescues were carried out and that there is great difficulty in carrying out this work.
Leite highlighted that the crisis is ongoing, that it is still raining a lot in the most critical regions and it will still rain throughout Thursday and Friday. The State government decentralized the management of the crisis. Vice-governor Gabriel Souza will stay in Santa Cruz do Sul and the head of the Civil House, Arthur Lemos, will stay in Bento Gonçalves.
“We continue to prioritize the work of rescuing people in isolated and island areas, with the support of Air Force aircraft and the use of State equipment. There is a special concern with dams in an alert situation, with risk of failure and flooding due to very high levels. We are already adopting the contingency plan in these locations, with support from city halls, to remove residents from nearby areas”, explained vice-governor Gabriel.
The state has been suffering from increasingly recurring cycles of adverse weather conditions. In the second half of last year, floods caused by heavy rains caused the Taquari River to overflow, in one of the worst floods in decades, and left a trail of destruction, material losses and more than 50 deaths.
President in the state
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to come to Rio Grande do Sul this Thursday morning. The announcement was made by Governor Eduardo Leite. Leite stated that he spoke on the phone for the president and that Lula promised to come to the state.
“Talking to President Lula, he told me that he will come tomorrow morning. It is very important and positive that you come, not just to see what is happening, to understand the scale of the crisis we have and to give the full attention of the Armed Forces, not just to support the State’s actions, but to participate effectively in the coordination of this moment, which is like a war.”
This afternoon, President Lula published a video in which he spoke on the phone with the governor. Lula states that he has helicopters ready to embark for the State, as soon as the weather permits the flight. “I am with the Minister of Defense here and he is saying that he has eight helicopters available to go, which cannot take off because of the ceiling. But they are prepared to go to RS as soon as the weather permits.”
The president also stated that he will deploy “as many men as necessary to help”. “There is no limit for us to set. If there are only 30, we will put 60, 90, 100. There is no limit to the number of people we can send to help”.
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) reported that it was called in and made two helicopters available to rescue those affected by the flood in the Santa Maria region. In one of the actions, FAB rescued a family that was stranded in a house at risk of collapsing.
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