Civil Defense says there is no reason to panic over emergency kit

In a new publication on social media this Sunday (8), the National Civil Defense sought to reassure the population regarding the recommendation to create an emergency kit, stating that the measure is preventive, with no reason to generate panic.

"Calm down! Talking about an emergency kit is not a sign of danger, it is a sign that prevention is part of the routine", says the caption of the post in which Civil Defense asks us "not to create panic".

The new publication was made two days after the first one, in which the Civil Defense encouraged Brazilians to prepare an emergency kit as "an important preventative attitude", since in large-scale disasters help may take time to arrive.

According to the agency's guidance, it is recommended that everyone already organize an emergency kit that can meet basic needs for 72 hours, consisting of items such as two liters of drinking water per day per person, non-perishable food, such as canned goods and dried fruit, and medicines for continuous use and for emergency use, as well as one for first aid.

The recommendation gained repercussion online, with many comments classifying the Civil Defense initiative as "exaggeration", while other social media users shared the fear that a disaster was about to happen.

In a note released on Saturday night, the Ministry of Integration and Development, a department to which Civil Defense is linked, clarified that the recommendation regarding the kit "is not related to any national alert or a forecast of widespread interruption in public services or supply".

"The National Secretariat for Civil Protection and Defense (Sedec) regularly publishes general self-protection guidelines for different emergency situations and disasters, including recommendations on how to act in different risk scenarios," added the ministry.

Similar recommendations had already been published previously on Civil Defense social networks, such as in posts on March 16th and 29th and April 3rd, for example.

Weather conditions

While not linking emergency kit recommendations to any specific or imminent disaster, the ministry said it is closely monitoring weather conditions in the south of the country, where rain and flooding have wreaked havoc.

In the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, for example, the occurrence of seven tornadoes was recorded – meteorological events with winds that can exceed 100 kilometers per hour. Authorities are investigating the relationship of at least four deaths to the storms.