RS: Families return home after floods, but in fear – 10/01/2024 – Daily life

Crouched in the courtyard of her house, in the municipality of Roca Sales (143 km from Porto Alegre), public servant Valquíria Regina Bazanella, 56, uses the water from the hose to remove the mud still embedded in a suitcase that was left in the flood.

“My sister-in-law thought I was going to throw it away, but I’m going to at least use it to store clothes. We’re even scared of buying something and having to run out again”, he says. “We’re just praying that there won’t be another one, because we haven’t even finished yet [de limpar].”

For the second time in less than a year, she and her husband, taxi driver Alexandre Luiz Botassoli, 60, are trying to get back on their feet. The first flood, in September 2023, took everything the couple had acquired in almost 40 years. When they managed to re-equip the home, the water took everything away again, in May 2024. “There were two blows that knocked it over”, he defines.

Their house was the second of three houses built on the same land, facing the Sete de Setembro stream, in the city center. During the floods, it became an escape route from the Taquari River. The water came with such force that it did not follow the natural curve of the river and went straight, running over houses, buildings and streets.

The third house, which belonged to Valkyrie’s sister, was taken and no longer exists. Instead, the crater left by the current is an uncomfortable reminder that it is not a safe place to live. It’s the remaining option.

After living with relatives for four months, the two decided to return to the home they were forced to leave in order to survive. In addition to attachment to roots, there is a lack of money to start over far from the river. Waiting for government initiatives to relocate families is uncertain, as actions take time to get off the ground.

“We don’t give up. Where are we going? My colleague said ‘buy somewhere else’, I said ‘with orange leaves?'”, says Valquíria.

The good mood that the couple tries to maintain to survive the tragedy does not negate their concern about the risk of a new flood — a specter that made many residents leave the city and still frightens those who stayed.

“We are afraid. When it starts to rain, I get worried,” she says.

The horror film they experienced in September last year is still alive in their memories, when they both spent 15 hours staying with their children in the basement of the house across the street, listening to calls for help without being able to help. At the time, Roca Sales recorded 14 deaths — some of them neighbors of the couple. In May, 14 more people died, and there are still two people missing.

“Dangerous, it’s [voltar a morar no local]. But our resources were spent on renovating the first time. Now, he has to stay here to try to recover”, says Botassoli.

In São Leopoldo (27 km from Porto Alegre), retiree Antônio Wisniewski, 64, was also unable to fully recover from the damage — both material and psychological. His house was underwater for 25 days.

“We change a lot. The nervous system seems to change. You may not think so, but it’s a struggle, right? It’s not easy, from one day to the next, to lose everything. Even if there weren’t any great things there, but it was yours,” he says. The feeling, according to him, is of having aged years in a space of months.

“When it starts to rain, then you start to shiver, right? You’re already thinking, will it not come again?”, he says, speaking softly, like someone afraid of inviting a new tragedy with just their voice.

In May, the Sheet followed when Wisniewski didn’t even wait for the water to completely subside to check the situation of the house, which had appliances overturned, furniture carried from one room to another and traces of mud up to the ceiling. That day, although already impressed by the extent of the damage, he was still far from being able to measure the real loss.

“There were times when I felt like turning my back and never coming back,” he recalls.

The couple’s intention was to rent a house in another region while renovating their own, but skyrocketing prices made them give up. Wisniewski then had to convince his wife, who was reluctant to return immediately to the same place.

With R$5,100 from Reconstruction Aid, from the federal government, and another resource saved in savings, the family was able to change a door, two windows, paint the walls and install new flooring. Refrigerator and microwave were recovered. The expenses already exceed R$10,000 and, even so, there was no money to replace the furniture.

“We don’t buy anything, because either you buy it and don’t renovate it, or you renovate it and don’t buy it,” he says. The retiree says he did not receive the financial aid paid by the government of Rio Grande do Sul (one of R$2,000 from donations and another of R$2,500 from the so-called Volta por Cima), due to income criteria.

In Cruzeiro do Sul (123 km from Porto Alegre), retiree Leonise Teresinha de Oliveira, 67, says she worries when it rains heavily. Even so, he can’t wait to return to his home in the Passo de Estrela neighborhood, reduced to rubble by the May flood.

The property was one of the only ones left standing after the Taquari River hit the area in an overwhelming way. Residents estimate that more than 600 homes were completely destroyed. The atmosphere of a ghost neighborhood, however, does not seem to be enough to shake the determination of her and her partner, Aldo Neves, 50.

“To be quite honest, what I really wanted was to reform and come back here,” she says. “For me, my place is here.”

The chairs still hanging from the roof beams are among what little remains of the house. Furniture, appliances and utensils were destroyed by water, part of the roof was torn off, and the iron gate was left lying on the ground. Even so, the retiree considers she was lucky because the walls held up.

The lack of money to continue paying rent is a determining factor in why the couple wants to return as soon as possible. “If we win the land, we won’t have money to build a house. There’s no point. That’s it here, but at least we’ll have it, right?”, says Neves.

For the future, the couple’s plan is to build a second floor to try to protect their belongings in the event of another flood.

“I’m confident. Whatever God wants. When we get back, if there’s a flood, we’ll carry everything and go to our daughter’s house. Let’s go back again, clean up again. What are we going to do?”, says Leonise .