The Civil Defense of the State of São Paulo updated, this Thursday afternoon (9), to 300 the number of homeless people in Peruíbe, in the metropolitan region of Baixada Santista. The rain that hit the municipality – 283 millimeters in the last 48 hours – caused flooding of roads and homes. Around a thousand people were affected by the water. According to the state Civil Defense, the city should declare an emergency in the next few hours.
At 5pm, 30 agents from the Environmental Police, Fire Department and Civil Defense and nine vessels were working to rescue people. The homeless are being taken to emergency shelters set up at the Delcelia Joselita Machado Bezerra, Maria Amélia and Fernando Nepomuceno Filho schools.
Due to the flooding, 17 people ended up isolated in the Caraguava neighborhood, but were rescued by the Fire Department. The neighborhoods of Vila Erminda, Araminguava, Venessa, Ribamar, Jardim das Flores and Nova Itariri also recorded flooding, which reached homes.
According to the state government, the last truck destined for the city left Registro in the late afternoon with 100 basic food baskets; 150 kits cleaning; 150 kits hygiene; 150 kits cleaning supplies (squeegee, broom and bleach) and 150 kits dormitory, with mattresses, pillows, blankets and bedding.
According to Palácio dos Bandeirantes, since the beginning of Wednesday (8), the São Paulo Civil Defense sent, via SMS, alerts to residents about persistent rain and strong winds. In the afternoon, Cell Broadcast was activated. The system issues extreme alerts to populations in risk areas. Every cell phone that is in a certain region, connected to a telephone antenna and that has a 4G or 5G signal, receives audible alert messages, even if the device is in silent mode. In addition to the beep, the cell phone screen is frozen with the message.
“As soon as the situation worsens and we have a request from the municipality, we send this alert to remove families from the risk area and evacuate homes that were flooded,” explains Matheus Roncatto, director of the Emergency Management Center of the Civil Defense of São Paulo.
According to the state Civil Defense, rainy conditions will remain in the municipality, but rainfall is expected to occur in lesser volumes in the coming days.
