The heavy rains that have hit part of the state of Santa Catarina since Thursday morning (16) have already caused damage and disruption in several cities in the state. In four municipalities – Balneário Camboriú, Camboriú, Governador Celso Ramos and Tijucas – the city hall declared an emergency due to the consequences of the large volume of water.
The highest volume of rain recorded until this afternoon across the entire Santa Catarina territory occurred in Tijucas, in Greater Florianópolis: 280 millimeters. Due to the intensity of the weather events, the State Secretariat of Civil Defense issued a warning to the population, highlighting the risks of flooding, floods, landslides, falling trees and the consequent damage to infrastructure, such as possible interruptions in the supply of electricity.
In Itajaí, on the north coast of Santa Catarina, rainfall worsened the situation in hillside areas and regions prone to flooding, which were already being monitored due to the condition of the soil, soaked by the rains of the last few days. According to city hall, between dawn and afternoon today, municipal Civil Defense agents responded to 35 incidents related to the consequences of the rain, including seven landslides. In total, 20 people and one animal needed to be rescued.
“With the interruption of the rains, the water has already been drained, which eliminates the risk of flooding in the municipality”, informed the city hall, highlighting that, despite this, the teams remain on high alert, monitoring mainly critical areas.
The situation is also serious in Balneário Camboriú. People were left stranded and the streets were flooded. According to the city hall, there was flooding in all neighborhoods and many avenues remain under water, closed. Affected were basic health units in seven neighborhoods (Estados, Barra, Vila Real, São Judas, Estaleiro, Estaleirinho and Taquaras), in addition to the Specialized Dental and Psychosocial Care centers, which suspended service to the population.
Still in Balneário Camboriú, at least one family had to be rescued in a hurry. In addition to declaring an emergency situation, implementing the Municipal Emergency Disaster Response Plan and announcing the opening of three emergency shelters, Mayor Juliana Pavan called on volunteers to reinforce the actions.
The rain also caused disruption in the capital, Florianópolis. Given the forecast that it should continue raining for the next few hours, the Federal University of Santa Catarina decided to suspend all face-to-face activities today and tomorrow (18), when any damage will be assessed. Several roads in the city were under water, which invaded the Joana de Gusmão Children’s Hospital, but there was no damage to the hospital and services were promptly restored.
According to the state Civil Defense, the weather is expected to remain unstable on Thursday night. The advice is that residents of risk areas, such as those close to slopes and rivers, remain alert to possible flooding and landslides and to weather alerts that have been issued, including via SMS messages, to cell phones.
