One of the cities affected by the heavy rains that hit Bahia, Itapetinga is currently without a water supply after the catchment system was flooded and the pumps damaged, Mayor Rodrigo Hagge (MDB) told CNN this Monday (27).
“Our water catchment was completely flooded. The pumps and panels of the municipality that supplies the city’s water were damaged”, he declared. “We are in contact with other cities so that they can send a floating station. With it, we will manage to normalize around 1/3 of the supply”.
According to Hagge, water trucks from local industries are helping to provide water to the population. The mayor estimates that 3,500 people are currently homeless – 3,000 in the homes of relatives and friends, and another 500 in emergency shelters.
With the prospect of a return of the rains this Monday, the mayor made an appeal for people not to return to homes located in risky areas.
“We spent a day without rain yesterday, so many people wanted to go back to their homes. At dawn, the rain started to fall again in the city, so we are continuing the campaign so that people remain in safe places and do not return to homes in places that pose risks”, he said.
Also according to the mayor, heavy rains have been registered in Itapetinga for at least 1 month, but it was the combination of storms and the collapse of nearby dams and dams that caused a historic high in the river that cuts through the region. “It was totally unexpected how this volume of water behaved,” said Hagge.
With the municipality’s production turned to agriculture, the difficulty in transporting production and the loss of herds to the floods made the mayor estimate a loss of around R$ 25 million in Itapetinga so far.
To help the population, in addition to water, Hagge said that donations can be focused on mattresses, clothing and other foodstuffs – especially proteins. The Rural Union of Itapetinga, according to the mayor, is receiving cash donations in order to convert the amount into assistance for families.
Reference: CNN Brasil
