In a calamity situation declared by the government, Rio Grande do Sul continues to record losses caused by the heavy rains of the last few days. The state, which is able to request federal resources for civil defense actions, such as humanitarian assistance, reconstruction of infrastructure and restoration of essential services, has also been counting on the mobilization of the Rio Grande do Sul hotel industry to help flood victims.
According to a survey released this morning (6) by the state government, more than 873 thousand people were affected by the rains in 345 municipalities. To get an idea of the proportion of the impact, Rio Grande do Sul is made up of 497 cities with 11.3 million inhabitants. This means that 70% of municipalities and 7.5% of the population were affected by the storms.
The bulletin shared by Civil Defense points to 83 fatal victims of the floods and another four deaths are being investigated. In addition, there are 111 missing and 291 injured people. According to the survey, there are 149.3 thousand people away from home, 20 thousand in shelters and 129.2 thousand homeless (in the homes of family or friends).
Salgado Filho Airport, in Porto Alegre, has its operations suspended until May 30, according to Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines). The terminal was taken over by water in waiting areas, passenger circulation and even aircraft landing areas.
Water invaded Salgado Filho airport
Tourism mobilization
Actively working on the state’s crisis committee, Gabriela Schwan, CEO of Swan Hotéis, says that the Rio Grande do Sul hotel industry began actions to mobilize help for the victims last Saturday (4). The measure asks hotels to offer part of their inventory to receive officers from the Army, Armed Forces, firefighters, among other professionals who are on the front line of rescues.
“We spent Saturday in contact with hotel associations in the state and the FOHB, which helped to gather this inventory. Many hotels cannot help because they are full or isolated. Projects in Porto Alegre, Canoas and Eldorado do Sul have water on their floors, are destroyed and are losing food”, laments the executive in an interview with Hotelier News.
Gabriela points out that the roads are blocked, with cities without access due to the sea of mud that has formed. “Only Army boats and trucks can get through. Caxias do Sul airport is open where donations arrive and Canela airport is also an alternative.”
In Serra Gaúcha, the roads are operating and much of the aid arrives through Santa Catarina, but slowly due to difficult access. “Serra Gaúcha is more organized, but some neighborhoods report a lack of water at certain times of the day. In the state, we have schools closed to shelter affected people”, reports the CEO.
Even with the massification of efforts, Rio Grande do Sul is asking for donations and more help from the federal government. On May 3, Celso Sabino, Minister of Tourism, announced the release of R$100 million for entrepreneurs in the sector affected by the floods. The credit will be made available on an emergency basis, through Fungetur (New General Tourism Fund), a program aimed mainly at micro, small and medium-sized companies in the country.
The resources may benefit accommodation facilities, tourism agencies, tourist transport companies, event organizers, theme parks, tourist camps, restaurants, cafeterias, bars and similar registered in the Cadastur (Register of Tourist Service Providers).
“We need this support from the Ministry of Tourism and the Florianópolis air base, with more lines flying to operating airports. We will also launch campaigns alongside the FOHB to mobilize suppliers from the hotel sector of linen and cleaning materials to obtain cost prices for the state”, adds Gabriela.
Marriott International also began mobilizing its general managers across the country to collect donations for the victims of Rio Grande do Sul. Laghetto Hotéis is sheltering health professionals, firefighters and Civil Defense in its units.
Donations and help
From today until May 19th, CVC starts a fundraising campaign in all of its more than 1,000 stores in Brazil to help Rio Grande do Sul.
The action is a partnership between CVC, which will be responsible for the collection point for the items to be donated, Jamef, the company that will collect the items, and the airlines Latam, Azul, Gol, responsible for delivering the donations.
Donations of items such as clothes, shoes, towels, blankets, sheets can be delivered to CVC units located in the country’s main cities. Check the addresses in the link.
Azul and Azul Viagens joined forces to organize a special operation to receive and transport donations to Rio Grande do Sul. The company established grocery collection points in the 160 airports in which it operates and in the 103 Azul Viagens stores distributed throughout Brazil.
The company is also studying new additional operations to transport donations. By land, Azul moved a loaded trailer, departing from Navegantes and heading to Viamão, with 17 tons of donations. Another vehicle left Florianópolis for the same destination.
Sector professionals, such as Augusto Rocha, vice-president of Marketing and Sales at Pmweb, are also organizing themselves to collect mattresses and other items that will be sent to São Leopoldo and Canoas.
With more rainy days expected ahead, the CEO of Swan Hotéis points out that recovery from the crisis will be slow. “In Porto Alegre, it will take at least 10 days for the water to recede. And I’m not even talking about the cleaning process. In the hotel industry, in addition to cancellations, we will have a major impact without guest arrivals. Today, our movement is for help, with many hotels participating in this mobilization”.
Mobilized hotels
Porto Alegre
- Nacional Inn Porto Alegre
- Eko Residence
- Plaza San Rafael
- park plaza
- Novotel 3 Figueiras
- Deville Prime Porto Alegre
- Double Tree Porto Alegre
- Hotel Praça da Matriz
- Blue Tree Premium Porto Alegre
- Hotel Lancaster
- Laghetto
Metropolitan region
- Vila Ventura
- Swan Novo Hamburgo
- Ibis Novo Hamburgo
- Locanda Hotel
- Hotel Spazio
Interior
- Dom Rafael Hotel
- Hotel Itaimbé
- Swan Rio Grande
- Laghetto Rio Grande
Serra Gaucha
- Ibis Igrejinha
- Ibis Carlos Barbosa
- Ibis Farroupilha
- Laghetto Bento Gonçalves
- Swan Caxias do Sul
- Travel Inn Caxias do Sul
- Ibis Caxias do Sul
- Hotel Partners
- Laghetto Gramado
- Prodigy Gramado
- Jangal das Araucárias
- Laghetto Canela
Cover credit: Ricardo Stuckert/PR
(**) Photo credit: Disclosure/Fraport
The article is in Portuguese
