While visiting the municipality of São Sebastião, heavily hit by storms, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said today (20) that the federal, state and municipal governments must act together to overcome the tragedy that has left, so far, 36 dead.
“We are together. The election is over”, he said, alongside the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, and the mayor of São Sebastião, Felipe Augusto. “If everyone works alone, our income capacity is much smaller. That’s why we need to be together.”
In an interview, Lula expressed solidarity with the people of the north coast of São Paulo and asked for prayers not only for the victims and their families, but for the rain to stop over the next few days and the weather to allow the continuation of the rescue work.
“A good prayer, with a lot of faith, always helps to regain what we want.”
He recalled that, “for a long time”, the country has not seen a governor, president and mayor sitting around a table because of something in common that affects everyone. “It is a demonstration that it is possible to exercise our role in democracy even when we belong to different parties”.
“The common good of the people is much more important than any disagreement we may have.”
Flying over the region hit by the rains on arrival in São Sebastião. I meet now with the governor @tarcisiogdfthe mayor @prefeitoFA and ministers of our government to work together to face this crisis.
?: @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/xMqPb1RRkY
— Lula (@LulaOficial) February 20, 2023
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Lula guaranteed the reconstruction of houses affected by the storms, as long as they were in areas considered safe and suitable for housing. He recalled that there are Brazilian municipalities that registered similar tragedies five, six or seven years ago and that, even so, the housing problem of the affected families has not been resolved.
Tractor of the city hall of Sāo Sebastiāo removes debris on a highway in the municipality most affected by the heavy rains that hit the coast of São Paulo Municipality of Sāo Sebastiāo/Disclosure
The president asked the mayor of São Sebastião for help in mapping the locations where the Civil Defense certifies safety for the construction of houses. “This time, it’s going to happen for real. Just get safer ground,” he said. “You will have a nest again, to take care of your family”, he added.
Public calamity
Ordinance of the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development, published in an extra edition of the Official Diary of the Union yesterday (19), recognized a state of public calamity in São Sebastião. The city on the coast of São Paulo was hit by storms that exceeded 600 millimeters in less than eight hours. At least 36 people died in the region.
The persistent rains caused roadblocks, the collapse of barriers, floods, landslides, landslides and affected the water and energy supply. A child died in the municipality of Ubatuba, also on the coast of São Paulo.
The priority, according to the state government, is to help victims and support more than 970 displaced people and 747 homeless people. More than 500 people, including employees of the security and rescue forces of the state government, the Armed Forces and the Federal Police, in addition to volunteers, are still committed to rescue and identification of victims.
According to the Civil Defense of São Paulo, some cities on the north coast of the state recorded, in the last 24 hours, the volume of rain expected for the entire month of February. In São Sebastião, the volume in the last 24 hours was double the expected average for the month.
