Volunteers mobilize rescue actions to save flood victims

The tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul has already directly affected 850,000 people in 341 municipalities. To date, 78 people have died as a result of rain damage and another 105 are still missing. With water covering houses up to the roof, dozens of people are stranded waiting for air or boat rescue. O Mail he spoke with those who faced a moment of despair when leaving their home and with a volunteer who spent the weekend helping with rescues.

“It was noon on Friday when the drains started to pour water out. I live on the third floor, at 4pm the water was already on the stairs on the first floor. I have an elderly mother who is 79 years old, I couldn’t get out without help At 8pm the water was already advancing on the building and they managed to rescue us by jeep”, recalls saleswoman Darlene Ferreira, 51, who lives in one of the neighborhoods affected by the flooding of Lake Guaíba, in Porto Alegre, which reached the historic landmark. of 5.35 meters yesterday.

The capital and metropolitan region are the places most affected at the moment, after the central and mountainous regions were severely punished. Despite being safe and in a dry place, the situation is still “distressing”, according to Darlane. Her brother lives in the Humaitá neighborhood, one of the most flooded in the capital, inaccessible and isolated in the area.

She says that her mother-in-law, wife and son were rescued on Saturday, but, due to the priority order of rescues, he had to stay. According to Darlane, children and the elderly were taken first. “He’s in an apartment that no longer has water, electricity, food, or any communication,” she says.

Without knowing if he has already managed to leave the place, she says that volunteers who try to help are still facing a wave of violence. “Thieves are stealing jet skis and boats that they are trying to help”, laments the woman from Rio Grande do Sul.

Real estate agent Felipe Peres, 42 years old, was one of the volunteers who left Xangri-lá, about 150 kilometers from Porto Alegre, to help victims of the rains over the weekend. The motivation was purely the desire to help. Together with a group of almost 100 friends, they took jet skis and boats to work rescuing people in Canoas, in the metropolitan region.

“I never thought I would see a situation like that, it is very sad. People coming out of the water in despair, with no idea of what is happening or what is going to happen to them. It really affects the psychological aspect, it is very difficult to accept so many people. going through that, newborn children, pregnant women”, he recalls emotionally.

He says he faced the challenge of convincing some who didn’t want to leave their homes. “Many people said they weren’t going to leave, that they were going to wait for the water to recede and we said that there was nothing we could do, that we had already lost everything and that the most important thing at that moment would be their lives. Those who resist the most are those who They have a two-story house, which is at the top, on the roof… Older people are also very difficult to convince”, he says.

He also says that the number of members on the rescue boats also had to be reduced, as people only agreed to be taken if they could take their pets.

At least 20 thousand people were saved in rescue actions. In addition to the civilians, who led a human cordon in an attempt to rescue stranded people, 14,500 people were displaced by the federal government for humanitarian aid and recovery of structures. Around 25,000 air, land and river rescues have already been carried out by the Armed Forces, according to government information.

Truce

The next few days will see a lull in the rain and mild temperatures in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul — which should help with rescues. The weather forecast from MetSul Meteorologia predicts, however, that from Thursday temperatures could reach 12ºC and rain returns.

As the cold worsens, the situation could become even more critical. There is a warning from meteorologists for the Lagoa dos Patos region, which is expected to receive part of the high volume of water from Guaíba and could cause “severe flooding” in cities such as Pelotas and Rio Grande.