Civilian firefighter Loren Tiago ignored the body aches to continue with the rescue work on Saturday. Bricklayer Matheus Dias lost count of how many motorcycle trips he made since last Wednesday to deliver basic food baskets to various parts of the city. Bus conductor Valdir da Conceição, in turn, balanced a bag with groceries on his shoulder to help feed his daughter, who lost all her furniture with the rains.
Last Tuesday’s storm left, until the latest update on Saturday night, 152 dead, about 200 people missing and more than 900 homeless. It also created a large solidarity network to support the victims and try to bring some comfort to the population in the midst of the chaos.
With fallen trees and mounds of dirt and debris clogging roads, access to parts of the city has become impossible in cars or other larger vehicles.
To make matters worse, as city hall machines work to clear the streets, traffic remains chaotic. Only those who can get around with some ease are bikers. And they are the ones who, since Wednesday, have helped to reduce the difficulties of the residents who lost almost everything with the rains of the previous day. “Only today (Saturday) I have already made about 20 trips”, said, around 1 pm, bricklayer Matheus Xavier Dias, 25 years old.
Since midweek, he’s been cruising the city from morning to night carrying donations on his motorcycle. “It’s a task force of motoboys to take things where cars can’t pass, which is Caxambu, Sargento, Vila Filipe”, said Dias. “We are here to help residents who have lost their homes.”
The city hall called on the bikers to help transport basic food baskets. Those who accept it get a stamp on the bike and can fill up free of charge at any time of the day. “I’ll help until it’s over”, assured the bricklayer for the report.
on the front line
Loren, in turn, is taking a technical course in nursing and has been a civil firefighter for three years. A resident of Petrópolis, she said that, since last Tuesday’s disaster, she was only able to calm down when she put on a firefighter’s uniform and went to the front lines to help in whatever way possible.
“On Tuesday, when I was receiving the videos and photos, my reaction was just to cry; and we cannot imagine the pain of mothers and children. It’s very sad to see such a situation, it hurts inside our soul. I didn’t have peace until I managed to leave the house to come here to help”, said she, who moments later started another day of work on Teresa Street, the main shopping street in the city, heavily hit by the rains. “Today (Saturday) I woke up all sore from head to toe. I took two dipyrones and came because, unfortunately, there is a lack of manpower. We cannot give up.”
A few kilometers away, the collector Valdir da Conceição accelerated his pace so as not to lose his ride. He lives in the Moselle, but he balanced a bag of food on his shoulders bound for Corrêas, 16 kilometers away. It is there that her daughter Rafaela and grandchildren Arthur and Ana Paula live.
“She lost everything she had at home; television, furniture, everything”, said Conceição. “She is living with her mother, and I am assisting.”
Before saying goodbye to the report, he thanked the numerous donations that are being sent to Petrópolis. “It’s a great thing what they’re doing, I have no words to thank you. It is helping a lot of people.”
According to the municipal secretary of Social Assistance, donations are arriving from different parts of Brazil. There are tons of food and other supplies that are being distributed at reception points set up in the city.
“It is a very strong chain of solidarity and we are immensely grateful. We are committed to getting help to support points and shelters as quickly as possible, meeting the demand of each location”, said the secretary of Social Assistance, Karol Cerqueira.
The NGO Ação da Cidadania, founded by sociologist Betinho in the 1990s, is currently the largest entity in the country in the fight against hunger. For four years, he has also been acting in tragedies such as the one that occurred in Petrópolis last week.
“We have already sent one hundred thousand liters of water, 20 tons of food, two thousand ready meals, eight tons of hygiene and cleaning kits, a thousand mattresses and a thousand blankets”, enumerated the executive director of the NGO, Kiko Afonso. “We start with emergency items and we will stay for at least another month making these donations. When people start returning to their homes, which is already happening in the south of Bahia, for example, we enter a second stage of care, sending refrigerators and stoves.”
The US government also announced a donation on Saturday. E Officials from the city halls of Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis and Niterói (Metropolitan Region) will meet on Monday to work together to clean up the city. The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.
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