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Peruvian Raúl Valenzuela will never forget his 50th birthday. Instead of a celebration or a special trip, all that remains in his mind are memories of how the force of the water devastated his home and thousands of other people in Canoas, a city in the metropolitan region. of Porto Alegre, epicenter of a climate disaster that plunged Brazil into mourning. The historic rains, he says over the phone, increased the flow of nearby rivers in record time, without there being much that could be done. “No one took precautions, not even the government. Nobody imagined it would be such a huge catastrophe, practically all the houses were flooded and covered. “They don’t exist anymore,” he laments.
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Canoas has been Valenzuela’s home since he moved to Brazil in 2020. He came to the country to grow his career as a football coach, but soon had the opportunity to be a referee. One of the colleagues he met in the world of sports is the one who is helping the Peruvian by offering him his house, since his house was flooded and he cannot return to see how damaged his house is.
“There is no way to return home because everything was lost, covered by water. Thank God I got out in time, otherwise something worse could have happened. Many people died because they couldn’t get out. “Me, my partner and his children were safe, only the house was destroyed,” he says.
The countryman is one of more than 600,000 people who have been forced to move due to the floods that have hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul since the last week of April. The tragedy, which experts and the Brazilian government associate with climate change, has so far left almost 150 dead, 130 missing and more than two million people affected.
In Porto Alegre, the capital of the state that was flooded by the waters of the Guaíba River, Peruvian Miguel Angulo, 33 years old, says that at least 60 compatriots were directly affected by the crisis. Everyone communicates through a WhatsApp group, where they exchange information and organize themselves to try to receive help from the Peruvian authorities, who, until now, have not given them concrete support.
“We started asking for help directly through several compatriots. I know they communicated with a part of them, in fact we don’t know if we are more because many have connection problems”, says Angulo, a scholarship holder at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Around 220 Peruvians are registered as residents in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to data from our country’s consulate in São Paulo, which has jurisprudence for the south of Brazil. However, the total number of compatriots living in that area reaches more than 2,000, the Peruvian Embassy in the neighboring country told El Comercio.
“Thanks to the information collected by the consulate general in São Paulo, with the help of the embassy and consulate in Rio de Janeiro, we can say that, to date, around 73 Peruvians have been affected by the floods. Of these, around 14 had to leave their homes: four are in collective shelters and the other 10 were hosted by family and friends”, ambassador Rómulo Acurio told this newspaper.
They cry out for help
Angulo had to leave his home in the historic center of Porto Alegre on Monday the 6th. His moment of greatest concern came when, two days earlier, he saw a map from the Civil Defense of Porto Alegre that showed that his house was one of those that had . it will flood. “That night was horrible, I was waiting for the moment when my house filled with water, fearing the moment when the water and electricity connections would start to fail. Other neighborhoods have already started to flood due to water, but also due to ruptures in drainage pipes. “It took me a while to leave because I had nowhere to go.”
Despite this, our compatriot says he is lucky to be a student in Brazil. As a scholarship holder, he benefits from monthly money from the country’s government and, although he does not have family there, he has managed to find accommodation in one of the few municipalities that were not affected. Other compatriots, however, lost practically everything.
“The majority of Peruvians are people who live off their daily work, they have businesses that today no longer produce anything. What we have received most is help from Brazilian citizens. People’s food today does not depend on the embassy, but on Brazilian citizens”, adds Angulo.
Enriqueta Flores has lived in Brazil for 30 years and has dedicated the last 18 to her own business: a beauty salon located a few blocks from her home, in the city of Eldorado do Sul “I lost everything. My room flooded up to the ceiling. For 18 years I achieved a place with my business and it collapsed, I lost 100%. Everything that was in my house was also lost because we left with the clothes we had on our backs,” she says.
The Peruvian woman and her family are now at a friend’s house. “This gave me a roof over my head so I didn’t have to be on the streets,” he says. She practically goes to sleep alone because she usually spends almost the entire day helping out at one of the gyms that authorities have designated as a shelter for victims.
Flores highlights that the Peruvian authorities contacted her and told her that they want to help the affected compatriots, but until this Tuesday, the 14th, there was no clarity. “They just call, but they don’t tell you how they’re going to help. “There was no concrete help.”
“Most of us here, immigrants, are traders. Many sold clothes and had their own restaurants. Now our business has collapsed, everything is lost. I was the main breadwinner in my family with my living room of 18 years. Now what’s left? What are you going to live on?” he laments.
Fear for what’s to come
As if the losses were not enough, compatriots are even more worried because the rains have not yet stopped and reports from climatological experts suggest that the level of flooding will increase again.
“The water had already gone down a little, but now it is rising again because it is raining in other places and the river is rising again. How many days will we be away from home, needing help? We don’t know,” says Flores.
Peruvian Raúl Valenzuela adds that the likelihood of a tragedy happening again soon has caused authorities to prohibit returning to the affected areas.
“They are even saying it will be worse than what happened in the last few weeks. Even though the water has already receded, many places still have such a quantity that it is only possible to enter by boat. What happened here is scary, even now it feels like a nightmare,” she adds.
Peru will provide emergency humanitarian assistance
Faced with the magnitude of the climate tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul, the Peruvian authorities of that country and the Itamaraty began this Tuesday, 14th, the process of providing emergency humanitarian assistance to affected compatriots, informed our ambassador to the country El Comercio. in Brazil, Rómulo Acurio.
“This is very specific support for those people who are in the most difficult situation. We started this process today and it will obviously continue as long as this situation lasts”, said the diplomat, who highlighted that the deadline for delivering this aid will depend on weather conditions.
He added that Peruvian authorities have already contacted 96 of the 220 compatriots registered as residents of Rio Grande do Sul. “None of the other 100 have contacted the embassy, we want to assume that they are not in difficulties.”
He also detailed that our country’s representatives in Brazil have made several communication channels available to their compatriots and that their efforts in recent days have focused on ensuring that the Brazilian Civil Defense knows the location and needs of the most affected Peruvians, who, for. Most of them are residents of the neighboring country and have Brazilian nationality.
“This tragedy is taking on an unexpected dimension due to the duration of the floods. The Brazilian government itself faces a challenge of a dimension it did not imagine,” he added.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
