PAt least 108 people died due to the heavy rains that hit southern Brazil in recent days. Of these, 107 were registered in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and another in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, also due to the bad weather that has hit the region.
According to authorities in Rio Grande do Sul, cited by the Lusa agency, there are 136 people missing and 374 people injured due to the floods, which directly affect around 1.5 million people and more than 80% of the state’s territory.
O News by the Minute spoke to a resident of the city of Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where the lack of water and the scarcity of essential goods in the markets is a daily challenge, as well as the fear of looting and an increase in violence in the streets if the city’s electrical grid fails.
The water “took over the city in a way that no one had ever seen before”
Aline Krenzinger, 40 years old, lives in the Petrópolis neighborhood, in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, and reports a long list of concerns about the floods that hit the city, where several of her family members also live.
The water “took over the city in a way that no one had ever seen before”, he said, noting that several friends had to leave their homes in the city center. “Porto Alegre was flooded from below, the sewers started to burst, the manholes started to burst, so the waters started to rise a lot,” he explained.
It was when he volunteered to help rescue teams that he really got “scared”. “You’re practically isolated. You look ahead, there’s water, you look to the side, there’s water, and you have nowhere to get out”he commented.
Aline also revealed that of the 23 water drainage stations that Porto Alegre has, only four are working, “so 90% of the city is not supplied, there is no water”.
“The local government issued a warning to people to ration water because there would be a shortage, this caused panic in the situation,” he continued. When the first warnings began to appear that the water level of the Guaíba River – which bathes the city – would rise intensively, Aline went to a market to buy water and essential goods, “but what was seen was as if it were the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020”.
“We saw a lot of people carrying carts and carts full of water and toilet paper. There was a lack of a sense of community, because a lot of people are in need of water and don’t even have anywhere to buy it”he lamented, ensuring that, currently, “you can’t find mineral water to buy” in the markets.
When an online purchase is canceled, the water returns to the supermarket shelf and “finishes in minutes”
“It has become a luxury product, because there isn’t one. There are people who live in buildings and don’t even have a water tank, they depend on mineral water to drink, to make food, and they don’t have it”, he added, detailing unusual situations: When an online purchase is canceled, the water returns to the supermarket shelf and “finishes in minutes”.
Water everywhere and fear of… looting
In addition to concerns about the lack of water and flooding, Aline lists another danger that currently exists on the streets of Porto Alegre: the fear of looting, if the city’s electrical grid fails, leading to its citizens become dark and the alarm systems begin to stop working.
“Today [quinta-feira]my father called me and said he will stay there because he is afraid of looting. If water invades a place, they have to turn off the power to avoid problems. But looting is starting to happen, people take advantage and loot properties, stores… so the big fear is this“, he said.
If there is no light, let’s leave, because it will become chaos. There will be a lot of looting, a lot of robberies. The police are mobilized for rescues, so there is no way to take care of
In the same wave comes the fear of the proliferation of ‘fake news’. “The point where I was most ‘stressed’ was when my uncle said that the electricity was going to go out in Porto Alegre, that they were going to turn off the electricity in general, because supposedly the water would go to the city’s power plants. Then I really got fear, because without water and light there is no way”, warned Aline.
The Porto Alegre resident has, in fact, a contingency plan prepared with her sisters, who live in the same city. “If there is no light, let’s leave, because it will become chaos. There will be a lot of looting, a lot of robberies. The police are mobilized for rescues, so there is no way to take care of“.
So far, however, the ‘threat’ has not been fulfilled, but the bags are packed, in case the lack of water is combined with a lack of energy. But escape can also be, in itself, a nightmare. As an example, Aline explained the current situation on one of the routes leaving the city, which, in a normal situation, would take one or two hours to travel.
“Now, with the number of people who are leaving the city, in fear, it is taking eight, nine hours. There is still the risk of there being a dragnet along the way”, he warned, concluding: “If the power goes out… in our building, the gate would be open, anyone who wants to come in, so that’s the concern. If the power goes out, we’ll leave”.
It should be noted that authorities and volunteers continue to work hard to rescue people who are still isolated due to high water levels and who are beginning to suffer from a lack of food.
The strong storm began on Monday last week and continued over the following days, causing extensive damage to roads, bridges, homes and leaving a large part of the population of Rio Grande do Sul without electricity or drinking water.
With 11 million inhabitants, Rio Grande do Sul has been greatly affected by climate change.
Read Also: Floods in southern Brazil have killed 108 people
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