Porto Alegre residents celebrate the return of electricity to some streets after 15 days of flooding in the dark

Residents of the central region of Porto Alegre, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, celebrated like a football championship goal the return of power to some streets in the city’s historic center that had been damaged by the natural disaster. the largest flood of the year in the history of the region, which was completely inundated for 15 days. There were shouts of euphoria, applause and lots of sounds and whistles as if one of the city’s two great football rivals, Gremio and Internacional, had won the title, but that was a long way off as those two clubs still held the title. its stadiums and headquarters are completely or partially underwater.

Power began to be restored late Friday evening. Electricity has only returned to the lucky 11 of the thousands of streets in Porto Alegre, home to some 1.5 million inhabitants, but the whole city is relieved because even for those who still have no electricity at home, it seems like the end of a nightmare .

Power went out in Porto Alegre on the 3rd of this month, one of the worst days of the severe floods that devastated 88% of the state and killed 155 people until this Saturday, leaving 94 missing and at the height of the tragedy. , 650,000 homeless. Before this happened in Porto Alegre, where the effects of flooding were felt five days after hurricanes hit the center and north of the state, hundreds of other cities had already been in darkness since April 29.

As of Saturday afternoon, the largest concessionaire supplying energy to the capital had managed to turn on the lights in 19,500 properties. But in the area served by the company alone, another 103,000 were still in the dark, with no reliable forecast of when power could be restored, and across Rio Grande do Sul another 200,000 properties remained without power.

Light was restored in a small part of the city that had already dried out and where high-voltage cables could be manipulated. In the rest of the city, as in the cities of the agglomeration, either the electrical grid was completely destroyed by heavy rains and the fall of thousands of poles, or these large areas are still under water, and utilities, even if it were technically possible, they cannot again turn on the electricity due to the high probability of short circuits and explosions, which will increase the risk to the lives of residents.

This Saturday, the level of the Guaiba River, which begins to overflow and flood Porto Alegre when it reaches 3 meters, in the Cais Maua region was 4.52 meters. There has been a significant drop in water levels this week after reaching 5.35 meters a few days ago, but the level of 4.52 means there is still 1.52 meters of water remaining on most streets and inside houses in the once elegant city. contaminated with garbage, animal carcasses and all types of dirt.