“Never in the history of Brazil has it rained so much in one place. This is the largest flood ever in our country.” With these words, the president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described the catastrophe that has befallen the state of Rio Grande Do Sul. It has been raining almost continuously for days and the rivers are overflowing, flooding cities and countryside. The situation worsened further when the dam of the hydroelectric power plant between the cities of Bento Goncalves and Cotipora partially collapsed, contributing to the submergence of numerous cities and towns. The state capital, Porto Alegre is also under water and many people were forced to take refuge on roofs waiting for the arrival of rescue helicopters. Thousands were evacuated with military boats and amphibious vehicles and even canoes.
The damage is enormous and the toll, purely provisional, is constantly updated by the authorities. At the moment we are talking about half a million homes without electricity and 839 thousand without water. The government has made it known that the municipalities affected by the floods are 345 is that there are 102 sections of 58 highways closed totally or partially. The smaller roads closed or damaged number in the hundreds, perhaps thousands. The productive and economic sector of the region, the fourth most important in the whole nation, is completely destroyed. The count of victims is also heavy and constantly updated. The Rio Grande Civil Protection declared in its latest bulletin that they are there 83 dead, 121 thousand displaced, 19 thousand people in shelters and collection centers.
In addition to state aid, federal aid was also mobilized with President Lula taking the lead 900 soldiers who helped save around 9000 people using 29 helicopters, 4 planes, 866 cars and 182 boats. Local authorities and volunteers work tirelessly with jeeps, boats and jet skis to try to help isolated people who often wait for help on the roofs of buildings and in non-flooded areas.
Numerous expressions of solidarity came from abroad, in particular from Italy with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who declared “her sincere closeness to the affected populations” and with the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto who indicated the government’s willingness to send aid . 40% of the inhabitants of Rio Grande Do sul are in fact of Italian origin and a sort of Venetian dialect is also spoken in the state.
