The Brazilian Embassy in Portugal announced today that a Latam plane departed Lisbon this morning, bound for São Paulo, carrying the first shipment of humanitarian aid for Rio Grande do Sul.
Today, (…) at 9:50 a.m., the flight (…) to São Paulo departed Lisbon, containing a first batch of humanitarian cargo of about 300 kg, [space provided by Latam on the aircraft] of goods donated by the Brazilian community in Portugal and by Portuguese citizens, destined for the victims of the floods in Rio Grande do Sul,” the embassy announced on the social network Instagram.
The information was confirmed to Lusa by diplomatic sources in Lisbon.
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According to the embassy, priority was given to sending winter clothes, such as coats, comforters and blankets, because of the low temperatures in southern Brazil.
In the note published on Instagram, the embassy also pledges, in partnership with the Portuguese authorities, the large Brazilian community and local civil society, to support “the efforts of the Federal Government (…) to transport all the humanitarian aid collected in Portuguese territory to Brazil, in the coming days, by air and sea”.
At least 152 people have died and 104 are still missing due to the floods in southern Brazil, the Civil Defense said in a new report.
According to the regional authorities, around 615,000 people are homeless.
The state of Rio de Grande do Sul, which borders Argentina and Uruguay, is experiencing the most dramatic situation, with 151 deaths, 90% of municipalities affected and 2.1 million people affected.
With a total population estimated at 11.3 million, around 615,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and are now taking refuge in makeshift shelters, dependent on donations or in the homes of friends and family.
One death was reported in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina.
In Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, the waters are beginning to recede after two days without rain and the Guaíba River, which has been causing flooding in the city center since May 3, has dropped below five meters.
