FAB helicopter rescues family in Canoas | REPRODUCTION/FAB
Canoas, a municipality in Greater Porto Alegre neighboring the capital, is facing a catastrophe of an overwhelming proportion that is very reminiscent of the scenes in New Orleans during the hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. Close to 200 thousand people are affected by floods in Canoas alone, especially on the West of the city. The situation is dramatic in many areas, but it is an absolute disaster in neighborhoods such as Mathias Velho and Harmonia, among others.
The work to rescue flood victims in the Mathias Velho neighborhood does not stop for a second. Residents, volunteers and public forces work to save residents who are on the roofs of their homes.
Two operations take place simultaneously at Mathias Velho Station, one carried out by volunteers and the other by Civil Defense, reported the report in the newspaper Correio do Povo. With water up to chest height, a group of volunteers welcomes the boats bringing residents and animals that were stranded. Afterwards, another team helps to remove the victims, who arrive very emotional.
Some people need to be carried on their laps. Then, a third group provides reception, delivering food and clothing and taking the victims to the other side of the station, where medical care is provided.
Volunteers have been mobilized since dawn. Some feed in the water while helping with the rescue. The site needs wheelchairs, blankets, towels, fuel for boats, large plastic bags for victims to take donations to shelters, as well as ready-to-eat food.
There is difficulty in getting around the region. Therefore, people are advised to avoid going to the station and only hand over donations to volunteer groups, reports the newspaper Correio do Povo.
Images from Saturday night and early Sunday morning showed a hundred people forming a human cordon” to pull boats that saved people from the strong current. The images of community mobilization moved the people of Rio Grande do Sul.
The water in some points reaches up to five meters, according to the city of Canoas, which confirmed that two bodies were found floating in the waters in an interview with Rádio Gaúcha. On social media, calls for rescues don’t stop.
“This is the most tragic episode in the history of Canoas. A situation beyond our ability to respond.” This is how the mayor of Canoas, Jairo Jorge, described the situation in the city of almost 348 thousand inhabitants.
The city council advised the population of the entire west side of the city to leave their homes and seek shelter in higher and safer places in the municipality. The recommendation affects residents of the neighborhoods Niterói, Mathias Velho, Fátima, Harmonia, Central Park, Cinco Colônias, São Luís, Rio Branco, Vila Cerne, Santo Operário and Mato Grande.
Almost throughout the city, there are residents waiting for help or assistance. Aircraft from the state government and the Armed Forces fly over Canoas, lifting people and pets from the roofs of buildings islanded by the water.
Hit by water, the Canoas Emergency Hospital (HPSC), in the Mathias Velho neighborhood, had to be completely evacuated. The city began to remove the first patients from the site in the previous days, but, with the water level rising, it needed the help of Army soldiers and municipal Civil Defense employees to complete the evacuation of the second floor.
UPA Rio Branco was also closed due to the rise in water levels and the lack of electricity. Emergency cases are currently being treated at the Nossa Senhora das Graças Hospital. A large part of the city is without electricity and water, while the telecommunications network is oscillating, leaving many people incommunicado some of the time, including authorities and rescue teams.
The Rio dos Sinos has already dropped half a meter in the Valley, but the level of the Guaíba was still rising in the last few hours. The Guaíba ends up damming the flow of the Sinos in Canoas, so the situation will continue to be extremely serious at the beginning of the week.
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