Firefighters have been working for a week in the cities and communities on the banks of the Taquari River, in Rio Grande do Sul, and are now searching for the more than 40 people who are still missing after the cyclone and record rains that devastated dozens of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul.
As Taquari has strong waters, their level rose with the storms and the river route is long, the area affected and where there could be victims is extensive, which makes the search for bodies and survivors especially difficult, as he explained to CNN Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Dalmaso Coelho, commander of the 6th Military Firefighter Battalion of RS.
“Our search area is very large. The teams that played in Brumadinho had an area [de buscas] of 5 kilometers. From Muçum alone, across the river, to Roca Sales, there are more than 40 [quilômetros]”, he said.
Muçum and Roca Sales are two of the first municipalities on the course of the Taquari River and were the most affected by the floods, with the greatest damage and also the largest number of victims and missing people.
“The distance is short, but the river goes around a lot. So we have 40 kilometers of area, close to the river, with silt characteristics similar to Brumadinho.”
Rio dragged body for more than 100 km
According to him, one of the 46 confirmed victims, missing in the Muçum region, was found more than 100 kilometers away, close to Porto Alegre, on the Guaíba river, where the Taquari flows.
“This gives a dimension of the strength [do rio] and the area” that search teams will have to cover looking for the missing, said the lieutenant colonel.
“There is a possibility that it will happen. If it has already happened, we work with this possibility.”
According to the commander, the Rio Grande do Sul Military Fire Department is working with its entire contingent and also with support from other states.
The searches are being carried out by land, with men accompanied by trained dogs, and also by aircraft and boats, to reach the most difficult to access areas, mainly in riverside communities outside urban areas.
See also – Vale do Taquari has the second biggest flood in history
See images of the natural disaster in Rio Grande do Sul
Source: CNN Brasil
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