Humanitarian aid was organized on Tuesday for populations devastated by unprecedented floods in southern Brazil, who fear a return of rains in the coming days.
The toll of the worst climatic disaster in the history of Rio Grande do Sul, an important agricultural state, continues to worsen: 90 dead, 131 missing and 362 injured, according to the latest report from Civil Defense on Tuesday mid- daytime.
In Porto Alegre, the regional capital, and in nearly 400 localities, more than 156,000 people had to leave their homes because of the impressive rise in water caused by bad weather throughout the last week.
Cargoes of aid and donations from all over the country landed Tuesday in the metropolis, where “the most urgent need is water”, Sabrina Ribas, of Civil Defense, said at a press conference.
“I’m at the end of my tether. God spare me from being without water,” Elizabeth, 67, told AFP as she filled buckets from one of the few taps available in the western town of Alvorada. from Porto Alegre.
Only one of the six water treatment plants is working and hospitals and accommodation centers are supplied with tanker trucks, reported the capital’s town hall, after having decreed water rationing.
“There is no forecast for the system to return to normal,” acknowledged the municipality.
– Neighboring countries –
The authorities are also trying to guarantee supplies in other seriously affected municipalities.
The ballet of helicopters is incessant to provide water and food, “particularly in the hardest hit areas” while we work “intensely to clear the roads”, detailed the head of Civil Defense.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced that “emergency funds will begin to be released” on Tuesday for “first aid”.
Although the extent of the damage caused by the waters has not yet been fully assessed, Lula reiterated that “there will be no shortage of means to meet the needs of Rio Grande do Sul.”
Some 15,000 soldiers, firefighters, police officers and volunteers are 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.
– Worrying weather –
While scenes of desolation follow one another everywhere, the weather forecasts are worrying.
The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) predicts severe weather representing “great danger” in the far south of the state until Wednesday, with rain of more than 100 mm, winds and possibly hail , 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 worsen and “harm relief operations”, warned meteorologist Catia Valente.
The Guaiba River, which crosses Porto Alegre and its region, reached 5.27 meters on Tuesday, still a historic level.
Satellite images taken on Monday and broadcast by the specialized site MetSul gave an idea of the scale of the disaster.
“The floods have changed the map of the metropolitan region” of Porto Alegre, MetSul said.
The bed of the Jacui River, one of the most important in the state, has widened in an “incredible” way, the site added. However, the Taquari and Cai rivers, which had reached record levels in recent days, are “continuously declining”.
But the decline in the Taquari valley, one of the hardest hit areas, revealed a spectacle of desolation: everywhere there were uninhabitable houses, streets covered in mud and overturned vehicles.
In this chaos, the mention of burglaries inside evacuated houses adds further tension.
In the center of Porto Alegre, security forces arrested two suspected thieves, who narrowly escaped being lynched, an AFP photographer noted on Monday.
Local authorities say they are working to “guarantee” safety, but also to fight against the dissemination of “fake news” about the tragedy, which further complicates the work of rescuers.
