‘We saw everything’, says volunteer about routine to rescue flood victims in RS

“This solidarity that we are seeing alleviates a little what we are going through here”, Marcelo Vieira told ‘Terra Agora’

Resident of Porto Alegre, the volunteer Marcelo Vieira is on the front line of rescues that have been taking place in the State of Rio Grande do Sul since the start of the floods. He did not have his home hit by the floods and chose to help those who were affected. To the program Earth Now This Thursday, the 9th, Marcelo gave details about the rescue routine: “We saw everything in this process.”

“We saw the water start to rise, we asked people to leave, and many people didn’t want to leave. The phrase we heard most was: ‘The water doesn’t reach our house'”, he recalled.

He added that, in fact, the proportion that the flood took was unprecedented, taking residents by surprise.

In the midst of all this tragedy, Marcelo highlighted the importance of people coming together to help others. “This solidarity that we are seeing alleviates a little what we are going through here,” he said.

He said he knew people who drove up to a thousand kilometers to help with rescues. He also highlighted the work of Civil and Military police officers. “We found people with water already up to their necks [ajudando]”, he said.