Heavy rain causes flooding and damage in Rio Grande do Sul

This morning's heavy rain flooded streets and knocked down trees in Panambi. A pine tree fell on a house. Despite the scare, no one was hurt.

"Everything started to get wet, I didn't know what to do. I'm still shaking, I couldn't sleep", says metalworker Cristiano Almeida.

The storms started over the weekend. According to Civil Defense, four people were injured and more than 6,000 had to leave their homes. In Alegrete, a giant cloud carried the hail. In the worst-hit city, Santiago, ice rocks damaged 3,000 homes.

"He already earns little. And I came to... The guy to get things so that, in a matter of minutes, he can finish everything", laments the painter Adão Veroni da Silva.

Homemaker Lisandra Brum spread buckets around her house and had to cover her furniture while she waited for the roof to be repaired:

"We looked there to put a tarpaulin, but it didn't work, there are too many holes, too many, there's no way."

Residents lined up at the municipal gym, used as a support center for families. Since the weekend, the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul has distributed 39 thousand m² of tarpaulin, an amount sufficient to cover five football fields. Stock is being renewed frequently.

In Lajeado, families living near the Taquari River began to seek shelter because of the forecast overflow.