‘Looting is widespread, we are unable to combat it’

As the mission was rescues, we were unable to combat looting, which was already widespread. The boatmen no longer wanted to embark to carry out rescue operations because of the looting. I didn’t see a single commercial establishment open that hadn’t been looted. Unbelievable
Civil Police officer who works in Porto Alegre

In Humaitá, many residents did not want to leave for fear of their apartments being invaded. For the police officer, they are at risk of being left in the dark and without water and food, because the water is expected to take 10 days to drop to 3 meters, which is the overflow level of the port pier.

A boat always comes in to provide security, but the area is very large and takes a lot of time. We are trying in any way possible

“I was in the middle of a rescue when I received a call from my wife: the floods had reached my neighborhood”, says the police officer. The shutdown of a pump house in the Menino Deus neighborhood affected the area around its building, in the Cidade Baixa neighborhood. “According to my wife, Civil Defense passed through the neighborhood asking the population to evacuate the area”

I said: ‘baby, I’m in rescue’. And she replied: ‘but we need rescue too’. And it hit me. I can’t imagine the scene she described. Everyone was coming down with what they had in trash bags and suitcases, with dogs, children, valuables. It was a car going the wrong way. A war thing

“I became a security guard in my own condominium,” he says. When the policeman managed to go home on Monday night, everything was in darkness. He picked up some clothes and went to the neighborhood where his family was. On Tuesday, he was left thinking about the empty 94-unit building and the risk of looting.