The Civil Defense coordinator of the city of Eldorado do Sul (RS), João Ferreira, made an appeal this Friday (3). In a video released on city hall’s social media, Ferreira practically begs for help to help the city’s residents who, stranded, wait to be rescued.
“We are in a moment of great difficulty in helping people who are still stranded in various parts of the city”, explains the Civil Defense coordinator before extending the request for help to anyone who owns a vessel.
“I come to ask for help; [fazer] a distress call for Eldorado do Sul. Please, we need motor boats; of motor boats; of help. So that we can remove the people who are stranded, who are on the roofs. We need the help of those who are able to come to Eldorado to help us […]”, added Ferreira.
Earlier, the city hall itself used social media to make the same appeal to the Army and the federal and state governments: “Eldorado do Sul faces an unprecedented emergency situation. All neighborhoods in the city were affected. Many people find themselves in extreme situations, desperately waiting for help, while many others remain isolated on roofs and in flooded areas.”
Located in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, the city of Eldorado do Sul is practically completely submerged. Access roads to some locations are blocked by water or by landslides and falling trees or rocks. A dam located in the city is among the 19 in a state of alert or attention.
Part of the population is without electricity and more than half of the almost 40 thousand inhabitants of the municipality were, in some way, affected by the consequences of the rains that have already killed 39 people throughout Rio Grande do Sul. The telephone network is unstable and, in Much of the time, landlines and mobile phones simply don’t have a signal.
Throughout the afternoon, the Brazil Agency He tried to speak by phone with the Civil Defense and other municipal bodies, including the city hall itself. The report also called residents and commercial establishments in the city. The calls were not even completed.
“Eldorado do Sul is experiencing a calamity, a climatic event of the greatest magnitude in history [do município]”, added the Civil Defense coordinator in the video released on social media.
