(Porto Alegre) Release of emergency funds, Navy aircraft carriers, sending of food in a Neymar plane: initiatives multiplied on Tuesday to help the populations of southern Brazil, who fear a return of the rains after historic floods.
The toll from the worst climatic disaster in the history of Rio Grande do Sul, an important agricultural state, continues to worsen: 95 dead, 131 missing and 372 injured, according to the latest report from Civil Defense.
“The figures continue to rise but unfortunately they remain highly imprecise because we are still in an emergency situation,” declared the governor of this state, Eduardo Leite, at a press conference.
He warned of the risk of “further heavy rain from Friday […] which could cause further flooding in already heavily affected areas.”
In Porto Alegre, the regional capital, and in more than 400 localities, more than 159,000 people have already had to leave their homes due to the impressive rise in water caused by bad weather throughout the last week.
Shipments of aid and donations from across the country were landed Tuesday in the metropolis, where “the most urgent need is water,” said Sabrina Ribas, of Civil Defense.
” I am exhausted. God forbid I run out of water,” Elizabeth, 67, told AFP as she filled buckets at one of the few taps available in the town of Alvorada, near Porto Alegre.
Only two of the six water treatment plants are operating and hospitals and accommodation centers are supplied with tankers, the capital’s town hall reported, after having decreed water rationing.
“There is no forecast for the system to return to normal,” acknowledged the municipality.
” War ”
In the town of Canoas, a suburb of Porto Alegre, boats are going back and forth to rescue residents who had decided to stay at home until the last moment or had not been able to be approached before.
“We were in a room, upstairs, and the water had risen to the sixth step of the stairs. We managed to get out in time, but now we hope that the water will subside,” Brenda Silveira, 24, told AFP.
As part of an operation “similar to a war situation”, the Navy is to send the aircraft carrier “Atlantico”, the largest military ship in Latin America, with two mobile sewage treatment plants to the region on Wednesday.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced the opening of “emergency funds” by the federal government for “first aid”. For his part, Governor Leite mentioned the release of “200 million reais (54 million Canadian dollars) in emergency funds” by the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
Some 15,000 soldiers, firefighters, police officers and volunteers were mobilized to rescue the victims.
Countries like Uruguay and Argentina, neighbors of Rio Grande do Sul, have provided or made available relief equipment and specialized personnel.
Many celebrities have also gotten involved. Football star Neymar chartered a plane full of food. “I pray that everything returns to normal,” he wrote in an Instagram post illustrated with photos showing the plane full of food boxes and water bottles.
Worrying weather
As scenes of desolation follow one another, the weather forecasts are worrying.
The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) forecasts bad weather representing “great danger” in the far south of the state until Wednesday, with rains of more than 100 mm in this hitherto rather preserved area.
Rain is also expected in the center and north of the state, which by the end of the week could get worse, meteorologist Catia Valente warned.
Aggravating circumstance, a drop in temperatures is predicted.
The Guaiba River, which crosses Porto Alegre and its region, reached 5.28 meters on Tuesday, still a historic level.
Alongside rescue operations, ensuring security is an additional challenge, while reports of burglaries inside evacuated homes add further tension.
Local authorities announced an increase in police force and called for the mobilization of other security forces. They also promised to crack down on the dissemination of “fake news” about the tragedy, which further complicates the work of rescuers.