Rains in RS: without water, electricity and food, mayor decides to evacuate entire municipality

The city hall of Eldorado do Sul, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, decided to evacuate the municipality after the historic flood reached 100% of the city's urban area.

In an interview with CNN Mayor Ernani de Freitas (PDT) stated that the municipality of around 40 thousand inhabitants faces shortages of water, electricity, food and telephone signal, a scenario that makes it impossible for the population to remain in the city.

“It’s a horrible situation. There isn't a house that hasn't been taken over by water. We don't have a business in a position to open its doors. We are going to have to start from scratch, including me”, said the chief executive, who also had his house flooded by the flood of the Guaíba River.

Another problem the municipality faces is the lack of safe places to shelter residents who have left their homes. At the beginning of the flood, the most affected people were taken to the banks of a highway, but as the days went by the number of homeless people grew and part of the population was taken by boat to neighboring cities, such as Porto Alegre and Guaíba.

“I had to take these people and put them in BR, in the open, because it was the only safe place. Even the city hall building is covered by water. You can't buy a kilo of rice in the center of Eldorado do Sul. It's a situation that no one in the world can ever imagine what we're facing”, said Ernani.

With land access completely interrupted, the municipality has the support of aircraft from the federal and state governments, as well as volunteers who are rescuing residents on boats and jet skis.

“I am accepting all types of help. Cities that can receive 200, 300, 500 people for at least 15 days. We still have around 2 thousand homeless people. I need to evacuate the city because we are without water, without energy and without food” declared the chief executive.