At least 15 municipalities in Amazonas have declared an emergency situation because of the heavy rains that hit the state. Another 42 cities are on alert. The numbers were confirmed by Lieutenant Charlis Barroso, Head of the Monitoring and Alert Center for the Civil Defense of Amazonas, in an interview with CNN Radio .
The new flood alert from the Geological Survey of Brazil points out that the Rio Negro should reach the mark of 29.80 meters in Manaus this year. Because of this, the Civil Defense of the State has already issued several alerts to the population. “These alerts are a way to make the municipalities prepare for a possible adverse event that could cause a disaster”, explained the lieutenant.
According to Charlis Barros, from the moment that the municipalities receive the information, they articulate with other secretariats to guide the population that lives in risk areas and remove them from these places. Another focus is to educate families about venomous animals, which can eventually enter homes because of the rain.
The Civil Defense also advises the population not to consume river water, as it may be contaminated, having come into contact with community waste.
There were reports of municipalities that were without potable water. However, according to Lieutenant Charlis Barroso, these demands have already been met.
“The information we have is that some municipalities have already received the installation of a water filter from the state’s Civil Defense to meet this need. As the lack of potable water appears, we will act to supply the need”, he declared.
The lieutenant also explained that, from the moment the alerts are launched, help is requested from the state and federal governments.
“The Civil Defense releases the information on a platform, where the State Civil Defense and the Federal Civil Defense receive the information. From the moment it launches, it means that it is already asking for help from other entities to complement the response that the municipality is facing. In the course of the days, both the state and the Union will complement the municipality’s response actions”, he explained.
Lieutenant Charlis Barros also said that the Amazon could suffer from rains as strong as those recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Bahia this year.
“The most frequent in our state is flooding. But with the evolution of these increasingly severe events, related to meteorology, occurrences related to this are also appearing in our state. We have Parintins that suffered at the beginning of the month with intense rain, flooding. Several families were affected,” he said. “Once the population starts to occupy areas that were not supposed to be occupied, the risk of disaster is greater. It increases in the same proportion.”
Source: CNN Brasil
