“We have a large dike, Arroio Feijó, and it has started to leak water now,” said Mayor Sebastião Melo (MDB), citing that “12 popular villages” could be harmed. The emedebista left the press conference in a hurry after giving the information to journalists. Later, in an interview with RBS Notícias, he backed down and denied the dike had broken.
Storms left at least 41 dead in RS. There are 39 dead and 68 missing confirmed in the latest RS Civil Defense bulletin, released at 6pm this Friday (3). At 8pm, two more deaths were confirmed by the Gramado Fire Department. In total, the city has six deaths. In total, 265 of the 497 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul — that is, 53% of them — were affected by the heavy rains that continued since the beginning of the week. There is still one confirmed death in Santa Catarina.
Images recorded by residents and authorities show houses being washed away by floods and bridges destroyed. Rio Grande do Sul declared a state of public calamity on Wednesday (1st), with a deadline of 180 days — there are cities in Santa Catarina that announced the same measure.
There are at least 68 people missing in Rio Grande do Sul and hundreds of people stranded in both states. “It is the worst disaster ever recorded in the state’s history,” said governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB). According to him, some regions received more than 800 millimeters of rain.
A federal government monitoring office will be set up from Monday (6) in Porto Alegre. Ministers Waldez Góes (Integration and Regional Development) and Paulo Pimenta (Secretariat of Social Communication) will travel to the city.
Leite asked for help from the federal government and stated, before the arrival of President Lula (PT), that this was not just a time for “overflights”. The PT member only stayed in the state for one day.
