The Pantera Squadron, from the elite of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), rescued 187 people and 3 pets in the Santa Maria region, in Rio Grande do Sul, since Tuesday night (30). The storms in the state killed 24 people It is 21 follow missing.
In all, 147 cities recorded disruptions, such as floods, falling barriers and landslides. Civil Defense states that 67.8 thousand people were hit by the effects of bad weather. State network classes were suspended.
The squadron’s assistance includes 80 soldiers who have been taking turns day and night in three Tomahawk helicopters. More than 150 military personnel are directly involved in the operation. The missions are carried out in coordination with the RS Civil Defense.
Urgent requests are forwarded to the operations base and teams take off to save people in at-risk locations.
The area of operation is very large and involves several cities such as Santa Maria, Candelária and Santa Cruz. And there are still a lot of people waiting for help.
Bad weather has been the biggest challenge for flights.
Most rescues have been carried out in rural areas and small towns. Regions where residents were completely stranded by floods. The victims were rescued on roofs, from the top of trees, on top of cars and on walls.
One of the missions carried out on Wednesday (1st) involved the simultaneous rescue of two pregnant women, taken from the city of Restinga Seca. They were taken to the Santa Maria air base and Samu took them to a maternity ward. One of them went into labor and a girl was born hours later. The family asked the hospital to thank the helicopter crew.
See images of the destruction of rain in recent days in Rio Grande do Sul
Lula offered solidarity to the affected families and promised help to the state, stating that there will be no shortage of resources and that the federal government will work together with the local government.
Governor of RS, Eduardo Leite, talks about dam collapse in the state
What causes storms in RS
The tragedy in the state is associated with intense wind currents, a corridor of humidity coming from the Amazon, increasing the strength of the rain, and an atmospheric blockage, due to heat waves.
