It stopped raining but the water is still flooding Porto Alegre and hundreds of other cities in southern Brazil this Monday, while Concern grows over food and water supply for the worst climate catastrophe in the region.
Some 84 people died, 111 are missing and more than 129,000 had to leave their homes. due to torrential rains that overflowed rivers and caused landslides in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to Civil Defense data.
In Porto Alegre, the state capital, the sun came out this Monday but numerous neighborhoods remain flooded.
The catastrophe multiplies the scenes of despair. Hundreds of residents of this city of 1.4 million have gone out of their way to help people trapped in their homes, in some cases for days.
In the Sao Joao neighborhood, in the north, the boats arrive by the dozens, but residents fear that they are insufficient. A hundred people await rescue trapped in a building, AFP confirmed.
We must “rescue them and take them to some shelter,” says Andrey Rocha, 36, a public employee and an organizer of the spontaneous rescue.
The meteorological phenomenon, which left historic volumes of rain and has turned the streets into rivers, is attributed by experts and the Brazilian government itself to climate change.
The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, described the situation on Sunday as a “war scenario”.
The Guaíba River, in the middle of the city and its metropolitan area, reached 5.26 meters in the afternoon, above the record of 4.76 meters recorded during historic floods in 1941. after reaching a peak of 5.30.
The tragedy
The tragedy hit some 364 cities and towns in Rio Grande do Sulan extensive agricultural region with a population of 11 million.
Many remain isolated, without communications or basic services.
Passage on some 200 roads and highways is interrupted after the waters washed away bridges and highways.
Military, firefighters and volunteers continue working against the clock in rescue tasks with helicopters, boats or boats.
Almost 14,000 soldiers were mobilized to the region, according to the government.
The authorities fear for the supply of water and food.
The Porto Alegre mayor’s office decreed water rationing only for essential consumption.
“We are finding almost nothing on the market. We have been without water for three days now.“lamented Neucir Carmo, 62 years old and resident of the Floresta neighborhood of the city.
According to a report from the meteorological site MetSul, the situation is estimated to be “extremely serious for a long period.”
Many affected areas, especially in valleys in the interior of the state, will be “uninhabitable for weeks or months due to the destruction of houses, infrastructure and the collapse of essential public services,” he adds.
The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) warned of new storms of “great danger” in areas of the south of the state, with rains of up to more than 100 mm, winds and possibly hail until noon on Tuesday.
In the most affected areas, The rain could return from Wednesday.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who traveled to the affected area for the second time on Sunday, met on Monday with part of his cabinet “to discuss recovery actions” in the state, he wrote on the X network.
The president promised that he will expedite the delivery of “all necessary resources.”
The government of Rio Grande do Sul said that They have received donations from all over the country and a collection of around 38 million reais (USD 7.6 million).
The Brazilian Football Confederation, together with federations, clubs and national team players, including Vinicius Júnior and Neymar, launched an online fundraising campaign.
At the Civil Defense logistics center and sports centers in Porto Alegre, as well as at other points outside the state, donations are piled up awaiting distribution.
More than 20,000 people are housed in shelters and field hospitals have been set up due to the evacuation of medical centers.
In the midst of the drama, there are people “afraid of looting,” says Dionis Bellettini, dressed in civilian clothes and with a life jacket around his neck. Some residents simply “don’t want to go to a shelter.”
In the city center, rescuers arrested two people who were robbing evacuated homes.
Police officers prevented a lynching by a group of angry people, an AFP photographer confirmed.