05/05/2024 – 7:00
With the storms hitting Rio Grande do Sul, which until Saturday, the 4th, had caused 55 deaths – and another 7 under investigation – and left 74 missing, the mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastião Melo (MDB), highlighted concern about the lack of ‘water in the city. Of the six water treatment plants of the Municipal Department of Water and Sewage (Dmae) in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, four have their operations suspended. In the Sarandi neighborhood, north of the city, a dike that dams the Gravataí River began to overflow, and the leak made the mayor recommend that residents rush to leave the region.
“Today (Saturday) morning, the leak started over the dike. Therefore, I want to invite them to accept it, to leave their homes and come to city hall shelters, because material goods, we can lose, life will never come back”, appealed Melo on social media.
Porto Alegre still faces blackouts – 54 thousand residents without electricity, according to CEEE Equatorial in the morning –, has blocked access and operations at Salgado Filho Airport have been suspended.
The mayor also asked residents of areas neighboring Arena do Grêmio, in the north zone, to leave their homes due to the flood of the Guaíba River, which exceeded the level of 5 meters (the flood level is 3 meters). It is the highest mark ever recorded in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, surpassing the historic flood of 1941, with 4.76 meters.
In the metropolitan region of the capital, the Canoas Emergency Hospital was evacuated due to the flooding that hit the city yesterday. “The priority at the Canoas Emergency Hospital is to save lives and transfer all patients safely,” the organization wrote on the social network. On Thursday, the Três Coroas hospital, also in Greater Porto Alegre, had been closed.
On Saturday, on social media, governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) highlighted the critical situation in Canoas. According to him, the water affected the hospital’s generators and damaged the power supply. Children rescued without their families, according to the city hall, are being taken to the University Hospital. Canoas is the third most populous city in Rio Grande do Sul, with 357.7 thousand inhabitants.
HIGHLAND
The Minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom), Paulo Pimenta, said that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will return to Rio Grande do Sul today to monitor measures against flooding in the State. He will be accompanied by nine ministers and will visit Porto Alegre. Planalto will ask governors to centralize donations for victims of the floods in Rio Grande do Sul in their Fire Department units. According to the advice of the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, the matter was discussed yesterday in Brasília.
The government wants, in this way, to speed up the arrival of inputs to Rio Grande do Sul, with priority for mattresses and bed and bath linen. After centralizing and sorting donations in the States, the items will be sent to the Galeão air bases, in Rio de Janeiro, and Guarulhos, in São Paulo.
According to Planalto, 92 thousand basic food baskets were made available to the State, and almost a thousand Armed Forces soldiers working in the region have already carried out 9,749 rescues. At the meeting, the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, said that 11 of the State’s 12 airports are in operation. According to him, Salgado Filho Airport is expected to reopen this Monday.
‘CAN’T WASTE IT’
According to the mayor of Porto Alegre, the water treatment plant at Dmae de Ilhas (Ilha da Pintada) stopped operating, seriously affecting the Archipelago area. The Moinhos de Vento, São João and Tristeza stations, which affect 66 neighborhoods, had already had their operation interrupted by municipal management. On Saturday, only the Menino de Deus and Belém Novo stations were open. “It is essential that there is no waste of water. You can’t waste a glass of water right now. There are thousands of people who don’t have water tanks in the city. It’s almost a decision from the mayor. We will have a serious water problem. We are working hard to recover the situation, but when the river is too high, you cannot treat the water.”
In the north zone, supplied by the São João station, there are reports of water shortages, according to Maurício Loss, general director of Dmae. “We are trying to isolate the pumps a little so that we can reconnect mainly the São João station.”
Across the state, until yesterday, the storms left 860,952 addresses without water supply, according to Companhia Riograndense de Saneamento (Corsan). The number represents 28% of the total number of customers in Rio Grande do Sul. The lack of electricity reaches 350,000 points, 296,000 of which relate to RGE Sul customers (9.5% of the total) and 54,000 from CEEE Equatorial (3% of the total).
The internet and telephone service is impaired in 63 cities served by Tim, 46 by Vivo and 19 by Claro. In total, 300 of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul are affected by the storms. There are 9,581 homeless and 32,640 displaced people.
15 BURIED
Mayor of Roca Sales, in the Taquari River region, Amilton Fontana (MDB) said on Friday night that 15 people were trapped in different neighborhoods of the city, one of the most affected by the rains. The city, with around 11,500 inhabitants, faces difficulties in communication, access to basic services and a lack of emergency equipment. In Taquari there is also a historic flood.
“This information was passed on by neighbors. There are people in Três Pinheiros, Pinheirinho, Serrinha, who are buried and we need to rescue them”, highlighted Fontana, on Instagram. “Roca Sales is experiencing chaos. Roca Sales was practically destroyed again”, said the mayor, referring to the floods of 2023, during the passage of a cyclone.
Several areas were isolated in the State, with land access and even rescue by aircraft difficult. The failure of dams – such as a structure near Bento Gonçalves – also threatens municipalities in several regions.
PARANÁ AND SANTA CATARINA
An elderly couple died on Friday, swept away by floodwaters during heavy rain in the city of Bela Vista da Caroba, in southwestern Paraná. The man, aged 69, and the woman, aged 65, were trying to cross the bridge over a stream in the town of Lajeado Bonito, but the vehicle was washed away. The southwest of Paraná has been hit by the rains, which are advancing through the South after punishing Rio Grande do Sul. In Capinzal, Santa Catarina, school driver Leomar Ribas saved the lives of ten students on Thursday, after the vehicle he was driving was invaded by water in a flood. The bus was traveling in the rural area of the municipality when the water began to rise. The driver stopped near an elevated place, and guided the students, aged between 12 and 15, to the emergency exit on the roof.
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paulo.
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