‘Urgent rescue’: residents of cities in RS ask for help on social media | Brazil

Reports on social media show residents asking for help to rescue relatives stranded in cities affected by the rains in Rio Grande do Sul. The requests come in a scenario in which the mobilization of the Fire Department, Civil Defense and volunteers has not been sufficient to carry out the necessary rescues throughout the State. The state government has highlighted the difficulty in accessing locations blocked by floods and has been requesting reinforcement in recent days.

A rescuer reports that he was unable to rescue people stranded due to the current of water that invaded the cities. “We saw six people being taken, dragged, screaming, disappearing into the river,” he says.

In another post, professor Katiúscia Ribeiro said that six family members are in need of urgent rescue. “They have been isolated for almost 48 hours,” she reported. The relatives were this Saturday in Canoas, in Greater Porto Alegre.

On the roof of her house, a resident recorded a video for social media showing that her family and neighbors were waiting for rescue: “Everyone is stranded, no one is coming here, there was a helicopter here in the Army, it took two families and They didn’t come here to look for us, they passed by.”

There are also videos of flooded hospitals, such as the Hospital Pronto Socorro de Canoas, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre. The city hall reports difficulties in accessing vehicles and asks volunteers to make boats available to rescue residents.

Rio Grande do Sul faces its worst climate disaster. There are at least 66 confirmed deaths and six under investigation, 155 injured and at least 101 people missing. According to the most recent Civil Defense report, more than 80,000 are homeless and more than 15,000 are in public shelters, in need of items such as mattresses, blankets and bed and bath linen.

Of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, 330 were affected by the storms. The geographical position of Rio Grande do Sul, between tropical and polar areas, favors the occurrence of extreme weather events, but they have become more intense and frequent with the worsening of global warming. There are records of blackouts and water supply difficulties.