RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 40 cities in Pernambuco have declared or are declaring a state of emergency due to the rains affecting the northeast of the country.
There are also cities in a similar situation in Alagoas and Rio Grande do Norte states. The report is from the National Secretary of Civil Defense, Colonel Alexandre Lucas Alves.
In an interview for the program A Voz do Brasil, he evaluated that the situation in Pernambuco is still critical since there are missing people among the more than 100 confirmed dead.
“It is still raining here in the region, and this brings a problem both for the security forces that are in the search and rescue actions and the other actions of relief, assistance, and response to the disaster.”
The secretary said that for the federal government to release resources directly to the states and municipalities affected by major weather events, the federative entity must declare a state of emergency, delimit the disaster area, and assess the damage.
The National Civil Defense then analyzes the documentation and publishes the federal recognition.
“From this document, the ministries can act to support the municipalities, and the entire federal system can change the administrative processes to speed up the assistance to those affected,” he said.
Last Monday, May 30, the Ministry of Regional Development recognized an emergency in 14 municipalities in Pernambuco.
ALERT SYSTEM
The colonel said that the alert system of the National Civil Defense is the main instrument to avoid deaths in situations like the one registered in Pernambuco.
According to him, any Brazilian can send an SMS to the number 40199 and inform the residential zip code to receive alerts from the federal, state, and municipal governments on the cell phone.
“Receiving alerts of heavy rain or a major weather event will also come along with self-protection and community protection actions that, together with public protection actions, can and greatly prevent deaths like the ones we are experiencing in the Northeast,” he said.
“For the Northeast, it is important to remember that we still have 60 days of rain. It is a period that is starting now, a critical period. A lot of rain can still fall. It is important that the entire population of this region register their cell phones to 40199, receive the alerts, be aware of the civil defense guidelines, and perceive risk, adopting self-protection measures.”
With information from Poder360