Houses under water, roads completely flooded, people on roofs waiting for rescue and others in shelters clinging to life because they lost everything, is the panorama that is experienced in the south of Brazil, due to the strong storms that They have hit the region since Monday.
The devastating floods have already left at least 56 dead and 67 missing, according to the latest report from the authorities released this Saturday.
Rio Grande do Sul, a border state with Uruguay and Argentina, is the most impacted region but the scourge of the rains is also beginning to be felt in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, which has already reported the first fatality and where 33 cities have been affected. .
According to the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul, tens of thousands of people were evicted, of which 8,168 are in public shelters and another 24,080 in the homes of relatives or friends.
The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, said in a press conference that “the numbers may change substantially,” as rescue forces gain access to towns that remain isolated.
In total, there are already 265 municipalities affected, more than half of those that make up the state, including the regional capital, Porto Alegre, whose historic center was completely flooded after the Guaíba River overflowed, reaching its highest level in eight decades.
A tireless work
A day after visiting the affected region, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated that this was “one of the largest floods” of which he was aware and repeated that the Government was not going to spare resources to address the tragedy. .
The Armed Forces have deployed 936 soldiers, as well as nine aircraft, 98 ships and 70 vehicles to help in the rescue efforts, in addition to the 2,000 personnel of the regional rescue forces.
This Friday, journalists accompanied members of the Army in the rescue work on the Guaibá River, coordinated by the military from a type of ferry, from which smaller boats with the victims left and arrived.
“It was a great relief,” said Celine Machado de Vargas, one of the people rescued on the day.
Through tears, this 38-year-old woman said that she waited until the last minute with her father, mother and son to try to save some of the belongings. “But everything was left floating or destroyed,” she said.
So far, authorities have managed to rescue about 8,600 people in “air, sea and land operations carried out by integrated response forces,” according to Governor Leite.
New alerts
The National Institute of Meteorology of Brazil (Inmet) issued this Friday a red alert for heavy rains and the probability of major flooding in the region of the upper Uruguay riverbed, on the border with the Argentine province of Misiones.
Rain volumes greater than 60 millimeters are expected until noon on Saturday, potentially reaching a maximum of 100 millimeters in some parts of the Uruguay Valley.
Added to this is the risk of rupture of four dams, located in the cities of Cotiporã, Bento Gonçalves, Canela and São Martinho da Serra.
The authorities also warned that the water of the Guaibá River will continue to rise in the coming hours, which may cause new flooding in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre.
The weather situation also led the Porto Alegre international airport to cancel operations until further notice.
Side effect
The situation in the south of the country also forced the Government to postpone the Unified National Public Competition, which was going to be held next Sunday simultaneously in 288 cities throughout the country, including several in Rio Grande do Sul, and for which 2.1 million applicants registered.
The mega job contest, a model never seen before in Brazil, seeks to select 6,640 officials who will be assigned to 21 entities and bodies of the federal public administration, through a unique selection process.
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