RS Civil Defense warns of “very high severity” rains and flooding on the Uruguay River

The Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul issued a new alert, this Friday afternoon, about the storms and the “historic” disaster that the state of Rio Grande do Sul has been facing since last Sunday (3).

In a video posted on social media, Lieutenant Colonel Bugs, regional coordinator of RS Civil Defense, informed that the forecast of highly severe rain showers will continue until next Sunday, May 5th.

“We already have accumulated over the last 72 hours of more than 400 millimeters in several cities. So the damages could be much greater than those already presented. As a result, river levels will rise significantly, there is a risk of mass movements, more landslides and major damage, including to human life”, explained the Lieutenant.

According to Bugs, the waters of the Uruguay River – which connects Santa Catarina to Rio Grande do Sul – will also rise further until next Sunday, generating a flood above the overflow level. “We ask that people who are in safe places remain, and try not to travel on compromised roads and roads that have already collapsed”, he concluded.

The city hall of Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, began evacuating the city center after the flood of the Guaíba River reached historic levels. The river has already surpassed the 1941 mark, which was the previous record.

In the latest report, released by the RS government, the number of deaths due to strong storms and floods rose to 37. In total, 235 municipalities were affected.

The federal government installed a Situation Room with the aim of outlining emergency actions in an interministerial manner. One of the initial definitions is the return of a delegation of ministers to the State at the beginning of next week.

Homeless and donations

At a press conference, the mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastião Melo, reported that the capital of Rio Grande do Sul has 450 homeless people and requested “guided evacuation” after the rupture of the second security gate, located in the north of the city.

The mayor also warned about donations to the homeless. “I know that everyone, at this moment, wants to help and that must be commendable and [ficamos] very grateful. But don’t take donations to shelters. This creates a great difficulty for us. Donations must be taken to Civil Defense. She organizes the distribution,” she said. “It’s an appeal I’m making: we need donations, lots of donations. But they must be directed to the right places so that we can target them correctly.”

The Government of Rio Grande do Sul and Civil Defense announced two ways to receive donations, read below: