Governor states that the assessment is preliminary; storms hit 425 of the 497 municipalities in the state
Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) said this Thursday (May 9, 2024) that at least R$19 billion will be needed to rebuild the infrastructure of Rio Grande do Sul after the heavy rains that hit 425 of the 497 municipalities and have already killed 107 people.
According to Leite, several areas will need resources. He said the damage assessment was still preliminary. “The effect of the floods and the extent of the tragedy are devastating”, https://twitter.com/EduardoLeite_/status/1788562022377881903 on your profile on X (formerly Twitter). The governor declared that he should detail the resources needed for the State this Thursday (May 9).
The storms have already left 107 dead and 136 people missing, according to the Civil Defense bulletin released at 9am this Thursday (May 9). The State still has:
- homeless: 163,786;
- people in shelters: 67,428;
- affected: 1,476,170; It is
- injured: 374.
GAÚCHA DEBT
Leite blamed Rio Grande do Sul’s debt to the Union for limiting the prevention of climate tragedies in the State. According to him, the liabilities act as a “tourniquet” that prevents the local government from making the necessary investments to contain the effects of the heavy rains that hit the State.
“The debt and this form of payment are already largely responsible for the State’s difficulty in carrying out all the previous preventive measures, because it consumes a substantial part of our budget, puts pressure on it, ties it up, it is a tourniquet that limits the State’s ability to move. […] When you have to consume up to 12% of the budget with debt, we have a situation that compresses Rio Grande do Sul to make investments”said Leite in an interview with GloboNews.
The toucan has already asked the federal government for the debts to be suspended for the duration of the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the rains. The expectation is that the measure will release R$3.5 billion for the local government. According to data from the Finance Department, the total value of the debt was R$92.8 billion by the end of 2023.
