Residents of Sapucaia do Sul, a city with 120 thousand inhabitants, report despair and total abandonment of public authorities. “There’s no one, there’s only us, it feels like we’re in a nightmare”, says volunteer Eleia Silveira.
The resident helps at one of the municipality's collection points, and has seen at least a thousand people report being homeless. “Those who lost everything don’t even have a cell phone, they have no information about anything, no contact with anything, it’s total chaos.”
The Fortuna and Carioca neighborhoods are under water — and there is still no forecast of significant improvement. According to geologist Franco Buffon, manager of the Geological Survey of Brazil, the open weather of the last few days is not synonymous with a reduction in flooding. “The water arrives very quickly from the high regions, but when it reaches this flatter part, it can take days to drain.”
The flood that came down the rivers in the center of the state also flooded other cities in the Vale dos Sinos. In addition to Sapucaia do Sul, in São Leopoldo, a municipality with 220 thousand inhabitants, the records include homes and businesses covered up to the ceiling.
Watch the video made by volunteers (São Leopoldo/Campina neighborhood):
Help can't wait
In addition to the Campina neighborhood, requests for help arrive from the Vicentina, Santos Dumont, Vila Brás, São Geraldo, Jardim Fenix and Centro neighborhoods.
The two cities, Sapucaia do Sul and São Leopoldo, are neighbors and are part of the list released by the government of Rio Grande do Sul in the declaration of a state of public calamity, making it possible to reduce the delay in sending public funds. There are 336 municipalities in state decree 59700 of May 4, 2024.
However, the region's gauchos claim that their lives do not have time to wait for public authorities, and that “the people themselves will mobilize to save neighbors who have nowhere to go”.
Not knowing how to start over
“Our house, in São Leo, is on the roof. Everything disappeared”, reports resident of the central region, Graziele Oliveira, who is 3 months pregnant. “Our friends also lost everything, refrigerator, bed, children's clothes, adult clothes, everything, there was nothing left.”
The statewide death toll is 95, according to the latest update. Among the cities with the most losses to date are Cruzeiro do Sul (8 deaths), Gramado (7 deaths) and Bento Gonçalves (6 deaths). There are still at least 100 people missing.
“The important thing is that we are alive”, says the resident of São Leopoldo, who does not know how to rebuild what took a lifetime to achieve.
City hall responses
The report contacted the city halls of Sapucaia do Sul and São Leopoldo. Waiting for the return.
Source: CNN Brasil
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