More than 350 thousand locations are without electricity and have difficulty communicating in 128 citiesLauro Alves/Secom
Published 05/04/2024 16:07
Of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, 300 were affected by the heavy rains that hit the state, which corresponds to 60.36% of the municipalities. The information is contained in the state Civil Defense Bulletin, updated at 12pm this Saturday (4).
Civil Defense reports 57 deaths as a result of the storms, with ten being investigated to determine the cause. The new number would exceed the 54 deaths recorded in September last year, during the passage of an extratropical cyclone.
Since Monday (29), at least 67 people remain missing and another 74 are injured. Rio Grande do Sul’s Civil Defense reports that 32,640 people are homeless and 9,581 are temporarily in shelters.
Regarding infrastructure services in the state, the government of Rio Grande do Sul announced this Saturday (4) that the rains left 350,000 locations without electricity, 54,000 of which from the distributor CEEE Equatorial in addition to 296,000 points supplied by the company RGE Sul .
In relation to the supply of treated water, Corsan reports that 860.9 thousand people, 28% of the company’s total customers, are without water supply. The floods also affected telecommunications services (telephone and internet) in 128 municipalities.
This Saturday (4), there are 128 sections on 61 highways with total and partial closures, including roads and bridges, according to the 9am update. The next bulletin will be released at 6pm this Saturday.
Classes are suspended throughout the state education network, which has 2,338 schools. Almost 200 thousand (199,724) students were impacted by the closure of classrooms. To date, 603 schools have been affected, 224 of which were damaged, 30 serving as shelters and the rest with access and other problems.
Weather forecast
The storms will continue to be strong this weekend and could worsen the flooding. According to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), until this Sunday (5), the forecast is for heavy rain, which could exceed 100 millimeters (mm) per day, between the north of Rio Grande do Sul and the south of Santa Catherine; wind gusts can exceed 60 km/h. The institute also predicts the occurrence of electrical discharges (lightning) and possible hailstones during the most severe storms.
Help
In case of emergency, people should call the municipality’s Civil Defense (telephone 199) and the Military Fire Department (telephone 193).
It is also possible to register to receive weather alerts from the state Civil Defense. Simply send via SMS, on your cell phone, the zip code of the location where the interested party is located to the number 40199. Then, a confirmation message will be sent, making the number available to receive the information whenever it is released by the state Civil Defense.
Registration can be done via the WhatsApp application. First, you must send a text message by calling (61) 2034-4611.
