Landslide leaves 15 people homeless and destroys homes

In total, 15 people were left homeless, according to Civil Defense. The agency reported that it was called around 9 am. There were no reports of injuries, and ten other properties were inspected or closed after the incident.

A family with two children, a six-year-old boy and a one-year-and-seven-month-old girl, lost all their belongings and had to seek shelter after the landslide.

According to residents, the two children were in the affected house and were removed from the rubble by people who were at the scene. Indiana Silva, who lives in the neighborhood, stated that, during the Civil Defense presence in the region, there was no medical care for minors.

After being welcomed by friends for the first few nights, the parents and children move, from this Sunday (4), to an apartment, with the expenses covered by the family itself.

Civil Defense advised residents to leave properties considered at risk, but they reported difficulty finding a place to stay.

According to the local population, the clay began to fall during the early hours of the morning, due to the rain, and the ravine continued to give way throughout the day. They fear new landslides in the area, posing a risk to the houses that remain in the region.

According to her, residents remained on alert until, around 9 am, one of the houses was completely hit.

The landslide also hit the house of Jubert Costa, known as Beto. The mud invaded the rooms, reached two bedrooms and destroyed part of the walls and structure of the property.

In addition to concern about the current situation, residents say that the risk of landslides is long-standing. According to Gabriel Daudte, who has lived in the neighborhood for around 30 years, a tender for work on the hillside was held between 2017 and 2018, but the work would not have been completed at the time of Rua Chile.

“A piece of it was completed, but when it reached the stretch of Rua Chile, the service stopped and continues to this day,” he said.

Gabriel also recalled a landslide recorded in 2019 and said that, in the opinion of residents, the problem only receives attention again when there is a new occurrence.

"So, what do the population want to know? We've been here for 30 years. They only come during periods when the worst happens," he said.