‘Only those who experience it really know how desperate it is’, says a native of Pernambuco who traveled to RS with her family and is unable to return because of the floods | Pernambuco

“When you watch the report, you only have an idea, but only those who experience it really know how desperate it is. I keep sending messages to my family and friends. Even though I’m breaking down, I try to keep them calm,” said Gabrielly .

In addition to the deaths, at least 111 people are missing and 276 injured. The Civil Defense of RS registered 141.3 thousand people away from home, 19.3 thousand of them in shelters and 121.9 thousand homeless, who receive shelter in the homes of family or friends.

Of the 496 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, 345 had some type of problem due to storms and floods (see video below). The tragedy affected, in total, 850 thousand people.

Compare images of the floods of 1941 and today in Porto Alegre

Gabrielly Isaura is 28 years old, a tour guide and traveled with her husband, Sidney, 43 years old, and her son Rhavi, 2 years old, to a tourism conference that took place in Porto Alegre on April 24th. After that, they traveled to Gramado, in Serra Gaúcha, but the plans were interrupted five days later.

“It started to rain a lot in the mountainous region. When we received information about flooded streets and closed runways, we decided to go to Porto Alegre to leave. We were going to stay closer to the airport to catch the plane, but it was much worse”, he says.

With the roads flooded, the trip from Gramado to the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, which would have taken just over two hours, took almost six. In addition to missing the flight, because of this delay, the family found Porto Alegre airport crowded, as other people were also trying to leave the state.

“The water started to enter the hotel reception, it reached 1.20 meters, all the rooms started to be occupied from the second floor onwards, no one left. I looked around and saw everything closed and full of water”, declared Gabrielly .

In addition to the lack of energy, there was also a lack of food and water. “They [a administração do hotel] they made available what they had. Yesterday [domingo, dia 5 de maio], we only ate a small pizza. Some people got in touch asking if we needed anything, like money, but we can’t buy food and drinks, and people can’t get in here and can’t get out,” he said.

In the early hours of Monday (6), Gabrielly’s family and other guests were removed from the hotel by Civil Defense, after the agency found that the building was at risk of collapsing. They were taken by boat to the Sogipa shelter, also located in Porto Alegre.

More than 3,000 kilometers away from home, Gabrielly said she can only speak to her family a few times a day, as the lack of power prevents her cell phone from being charged frequently.

“I’m not well, but I try to put in my mind that the situation could be worse. I know that, in Recife, I will have my house when I return, I will have my place to sleep and that I just need to be patient and It will pass. The boy on the boat said that the depth of the water was, more or less, 3 meters. Imagine those more humble houses, homeless people, who will only have the body found after the water subsides”, he said.

Even with the flight scheduled for Sunday (12), Gabrielly stated that he is looking for other alternatives to leave Rio Grande do Sul in advance. “We saw that someone discovered a highway to leave the state and go to Santa Catarina. If that’s the case, we’ll go there, we’ll try everything,” she declared.

Amid the uncertainty of when they will be able to return to Pernambuco, Gabrielly reported that she worries about her son, Rhavi.

“It was our first time here. In Recife, we are used to dealing with the rise and fall of the river, but here it rose and never stops rising. I have a small child and my biggest fear is what will happen with him. He doesn’t understand and, for him, everything is beautiful and he’s even joking. [em] I just start crying in despair, but we do everything we can to keep our son”, he said.

The government of Pernambuco sent aid to the government of Rio Grande do Sul. In total, 25 professionals embarked, including 21 firefighters and four Civil Defense agents. Two dogs were also sent to help in the search for the missing. According to governor Raquel Lyra (PSDB), the aid was sent through the Northeast Consortium.

The mayor of Recife, João Campos (PSB), said that the capital donated 500 mattresses, 500 personal hygiene kits and 500 cleaning kits to residents of the affected region. The items were in city hall stock and will be restocked immediately.

The government of Rio Grande do Sul declared a state of calamity, a situation that was recognized by the federal government. With this, the state is able to request federal resources for Civil Defense actions, such as humanitarian assistance, reconstruction of infrastructure and reestablishment of essential services.

* Intern under the supervision of Bruno Marinho, editor of g1 PE.