Military planes have begun parachuting supplies to residents isolated by flooding in southern Brazil.

Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft have begun dropping relief packages to residents of cities and small towns still inundated and isolated by the severe floods that have devastated Rio Grande do Sul, the largest state in southern Brazil, since April 29. , and as a result of which at least 113 people died. The action, which began experimentally this Thursday, intensified this Friday, easing the suffering of thousands of people who are completely isolated from the rest of Brazil and have been without water, food, electricity and other essential goods for many days.

The first city to receive this humanitarian aid was San Jeronimo, located 80 kilometers from Porto Alegre, the state capital, and which is still isolated because the roads and bridges leading to it were destroyed by the force of the flood, and which is still Most of its streets remain under water. Several bales weighing a total of 2.5 tons were parachuted by an Amazon FAB C 105 and collected by local authorities, who were then responsible for distributing aid to residents.

The small community on the outskirts of Rio Pardo, 148 kilometers from the capital, which is also completely isolated from the island, became the second to receive assistance, with the same process releasing a package of desperately needed food. During this Friday, other cities are joining the initiative, bringing a little relief to people who are suddenly left without a home, without clothes, without food, without even water to drink or bathe, without the medicines they need daily to control. chronic diseases, and there are many thousands of them throughout Rio Grande do Sul.

The bales, packaged using the CDS (Container Delivery System) system, which protects the products from exposure to soil and water if they enter a still flooded area, contain drinking water, non-perishable food products, and durable medicines. use and against infections in contact with flood water, flashlights, as well as cold clothing, since since this Thursday the temperature in Rio Grande do Sul, where an unseasonal heat of up to 34 degrees was observed, has dropped sharply, reaching only 5 degrees in some regions . .

Before aid began, the Brazilian Air Force asked isolated residents to find a dry area or other surface, such as a roof, and write the letter Y if they wanted to be rescued, or the letter X if they just wanted to be rescued. receive food, and in all cases the option was food assistance.

According to the latest civil protection report published this Friday, in addition to the already confirmed deaths, another 146 people are missing and 406,700 are left homeless. This Friday, when meteorological warnings had already appeared, it began to rain again in several parts of Rio Grande do Sul, most of them very intensely, raising fears of a further deterioration of the situation in a state where more than 80% of its entire territory lived destroyed by the worst flood in its history.