Fear led some volunteers to give up work overnight
Looting of shops, threats to rescuers and attacks on rescue boats, including one with military police on board, add a component of insecurity to the already dramatic situation of people affected by the floods in Porto Alegre, in the metropolitan region and in much of the Rio Grande. South.
On Monday afternoon (5/6), the press office of the Secretariat of State Security announced that the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) of the Military Brigade, a unit intended for strategic actions, will take on an open patrol to curb the action of the bandits.
In Canoas, in the metropolitan region, between Friday (3/5) and Sunday (5/5), fear forced volunteers to give up work overnight.
According to the Military Brigade, of the 30 civilian boats that participated in the rescue actions on Saturday, only 20 were back in operation by Sunday.
The municipality of around 350,000 inhabitants is one of the most affected by the catastrophe, with over two thirds of its territory devastated by floods and over 15,000 people left homeless.
Faced with the situation, the Metropolitan Police Command (CPM) of the Military Brigade, responsible for the municipalities of Canoas, Nova Santa Rita, Esteio and Sapucaia do Sul, began an emergency patrol of the flooded area with two boats.
In the early hours of Sunday (5/5), two men attempted to board one of the boats carrying military police officers in the Mathias Velho neighborhood of Canoas, without realizing that there were uniformed and armed officers on board .
The two were arrested red-handed. This was an isolated incident, according to the Brigade, which said no new incidents had since occurred in the region over the weekend.
“It was a boat on the wrong boat, pardon the pun,” joked CPM commander Colonel Márcio de Azevedo Gonçalves in an interview with BBC News Brasil.
Gonçalves classified reports of possible cases of new attacks on boats and other episodes of violence both in the press and on social media as disinformation actions.
Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul had not published a report on incidents of attacks on property or violence since the beginning of the crisis until the publication of this report.
False rescue, circle of neighbors
However, there are reports from residents of an attempted invasion of a flooded apartment building in the São Geraldo neighborhood of Porto Alegre. Shots were also heard.
Area residents who had not left the building took turns keeping vigil Sunday night to deter attacks.
“We are making rounds. They have already tried to enter the building opposite. There are shots and attempted break-ins,” psychologist Sabrina Zotti told BBC News Brasil in a WhatsApp message.
In the city of São Leopoldo, about 38 km from Porto Alegre, sources from the brigade informed Rádio Gaúcha that criminals have adopted a tactic in the flooded areas: ask for help, take control of the boats, throw the occupants into the water and then use the boats to attack victims and homes.
According to the municipality, of the 220,000 inhabitants of São Leopoldo, approximately 180,000 were affected by the flooding of the Rio dos Sinos.
Since Saturday (3/5) there has been looting of shops, including a sports shop in the Arena do Grêmio, in the north of Porto Alegre.
The action of criminals is facilitated in flooded areas due to the fact that the water has expelled the occupants from houses, warehouses and warehouses.
Until yesterday afternoon, in the most critical points of the metropolitan area, it was only possible to travel by boat, despite the sun and heat.
On the first sunny day in more than a week and with thermometers marking temperatures close to 30ºC, Porto Alegre began this Monday (6/5) to contemplate the legacy of destruction left by the slow retreat of the waters of Lake Guaíba in the largest flood in the history of Rio Grande do Sul.
In the northern and central areas of the capital, streets, squares and buildings were still partially submerged in the early afternoon.
At noon on Monday, the Guaíba level measured by the State Department of the Environment in Ponta do Gasologista, in the central region, reached 5 meters and 25 centimeters.
The record was 10 centimeters lower than that achieved at 5.30 am on Sunday (5/5), by 5 meters and 35 centimetres.
This height had exceeded by more than half a meter the 4 meters and 76 centimeters reached by Guaíba in the great flood of May 1941, 83 years ago. The lake’s flood level is 3 metres.
As new areas of the city were flooded with water, affected residents decided between staying and facing a scenario of possible greater shortages – around 70% of the city is without water – or facing miles of traffic jams at the city’s only usable exit .
The intent of the rescue operations for the victims is to accelerate the work until Tuesday (7/5), as the arrival of a cold front is expected which will reduce temperatures and worsen evacuation conditions, as well as increasing the risk of hypothermia in expectant mothers. rescue outdoors or in the rain.
Source: Terra
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