Pelotas orders the evacuation of six locations due to the risk of flooding

The city hall of Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul, issued a statement ordering the evacuation of six locations that are at risk due to the flooding of Canal São Gonçalo and Lagoa dos Patos.

According to a publication from the city hall, the risk areas are: Colônia Z3, Doquinhas, Pontal da Barra, Rua Nova Prata, in Valverde and homes close to the bridge over the Canal São Gonçalo, towards Rio Grande.

This Tuesday (7), classes across the entire municipal education network will be suspended.

The warning about rising water levels in the region was given by the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB). In his networks, Leite said that all the volume that is currently in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre tends to go down through Lagoa dos Patos.

“The level of the lagoon will rise a lot and will bring a lot of inconvenience to those municipalities that are on the edge of Lagoa dos Patos. In 1941 we had the historic flood in Porto Alegre. And, in 1941, there was also a historic flood in Pelotas,” he said.

Tragedy

The number of people killed as a result of the heavy rains that have hit Rio Grande do Sul since last week has risen to 85, according to a report released by Civil Defense in the early afternoon of this Monday (6). The state also reports 339 injured and 134 missing.

In total, 385 municipalities were affected by climate events. More than a million people were affected across the state. Of these, 153,824 are homeless and 47,676 are in temporary shelters.

The rains that have hit the state since last week have affected 789 schools in 216 municipalities. More than 273.1 thousand students were impacted.

Regarding highways, the state still has 99 sections with total or partial closures. Click here to see the road situation in real time.

*published by Pedro Zanatta, from CNN.