Family clinging to tree and 800 people in school: reports from SC firefighters in RS

Firefighters from Santa Catarina who traveled to Rio Grande do Sul to provide support in incidents related to the rains worked for 14 uninterrupted hours in a rescue effort. During this period, 800 people were saved in a school that served as a shelter, but which also ended up stranded due to the storms. In other rescues, a family was found clinging to a tree while waiting for help.

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It was Saturday (4) when military firefighters from SC were traveling to work in the Greater Porto Alegre region and were interrupted by an urgent call: rescuing 100 children in a school. Locally, however, there were eight times the number of people who needed help.

VIDEO: Part of dam breaks in RS and city records historic flooding; water exceeds waist

— We received an emergency call along the way. There were 100 children who would be stranded […] As soon as our garrisons arrived, they quickly equipped themselves and placed the boats in the water. The cry for help from people when we arrived was immense, especially aimed at children […] When our garrisons arrived, there were more, there were 800 people [que precisavam de resgate] — says lieutenant colonel Fábio Collodel.

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According to Collodel, the location was a school that was being used as a shelter by families who had to leave their homes due to flooding. At a certain point, however, the shelter itself became isolated.

See photos of SC firefighters’ rescues

Firefighter prepares for work (Photo: Military Fire Department SC, Disclosure)

Firefighters prepare for work (Photo: Military Fire Department SC, Disclosure)

Firefighters arrive with rescue boats (Photo: Military Fire Department SC, Disclosure)

Rescue of around 800 people (Photo: SC Military Fire Department, Disclosure)

It took 14 hours of work in the rescue (Photo: Military Fire Department SC, Disclosure)

Rescues carried out by PMSC in RS reach 680 people (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

Teams have been operating in RS since Wednesday (1st) (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

Floods inundated hundreds of cities in RS (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

Rescues made by PMSC in RS (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

Many people were waiting for help on the roofs of houses (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

Rescues carried out by PMSC in RS also saved around 80 animals (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

The state’s situation is devastating (Photo: PMSC, Disclosure)

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The lieutenant colonel also highlights that the region has 30 thousand people and, historically, had never recorded floods of this proportion.

The rescue work for hundreds of people began around 7pm and continued into the early hours of Sunday (5). 14 hours of uninterrupted work were recorded to rescue people in this location alone.

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Other heartbreaking rescues

During operations in the Lajeado and Santa Cruz do Sul region, the seven Task Force teams from the SC Military Fire Department saved more than 600 lives, including people and animals. Most of the work was related to rescuing people who were stranded in their homes, on roofs and even clinging to trees. In addition, the teams rescued three victims who were already dead, two of them in landslides and one in a residence covered by water.

Among the rescues that most moved the teams were that of a man who had been clinging to a tree in Cruzeiro do Sul for four days. He told the firefighters that he could not be seen by the aircraft and that when he heard our teams beeping, he waved and had , at that moment, the rescue he needed so much.

Another impactful experience was the rescue of a family of nine people, also in Cruzeiro do Sul, who were rescued by civilians. The vessel, however, capsized and they had to spend the night clinging to a tree in the hope of being rescued. Once again, when passing with the boat blowing its whistle, the Santa Catarina firefighters were able to verify that there were people in that location and carried out the rescue successfully.

Team rotation

This Monday morning (6) the SC Military Fire Department will rotate the Task Force (FT) teams that are working in support of the Gauchos. The surrender, as this exchange of teams is called, will take place at 10 am at the corporation’s headquarters in Araranguá.

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— We were the first state to send help to our brothers from Rio Grande do Sul and this Monday, with the rotation of teams, Santa Catarina becomes the largest team of military firefighters working in support of Rio Grande do Sul — says Governor Jorginho Mello.

The 32 firefighters who have been working in Rio Grande do Sul since last Wednesday (1) return to Santa Catarina to be replaced by military firefighters from the FT teams of the Battalions of Florianópolis, Curitibanos, Blumenau, Criciúma, Itajaí, Tubarão, Canoinhas, São José and Balneário Camboriú.

In this second stage of the work, Santa Catarina will send 39 specialized military firefighters for this type of incident, totaling nine FT cells, in addition to the drone team and the new operation command. Among the other resources used are 10 4×4 vehicles, 17 boats, 11 outboard motors, drones and equipment for rescue in landslides.

— Our teams have been working around the clock in Lajeado, Santa Cruz do Sul and, more recently, in the Greater Porto Alegre region since the first day of May. This rotation is necessary and fundamental for the firefighters to continue operating at full strength — explains the Deputy Commander-General of the CBMSC, Colonel Jefferson de Souza.

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