São Marcos residents allowed to return home after risk of dam collapse

It was more than 72 hours away from home. Now, this Sunday (27), more than 170 people who had to leave their homes in São Marcos, due to the risk of the Arroio São Luiz Dam breaking, have authorization to return to the property.

The mayor of São Marcos, Volmir Rech, announced the decision:

"We went from a state of emergency to a state of alert in relation to our dam. We have to thank the workforce for helping us in this difficult time. Normality will return, we managed to maintain supply and we continue with some actions."

"We lowered the dam's level to a safety margin, plugged the cracks and did a technical assessment. Remembering that we started the state of emergency in a preventive manner, to guarantee people's safety. We continue to work", added the director of operations at Corsan Aegea, the concessionaire responsible for the dam.

Understand how residents were removed

The Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul issued a very high danger alert for the chance of imminent collapse of the Arroio São Luiz Dam, in São Marcos, a municipality with 21 thousand inhabitants 170 km from Porto Alegre, on Wednesday (23).

"Be aware of the guidelines of emergency agencies and prepared for evacuation. Seek information from your city's Civil Defense, learn about the municipal Contingency Plans to find out what the risks are and how to act in the event of a disaster in your municipality", states the alert.

Corsan Aegea, responsible for managing the site, reported that it "identified a leaking crack in the spillway structure and in parts of the dam buttress", that "the alert is restricted to properties located close to the structure and on the banks of the Jaguari River" and that "other areas of the city are not at risk".

As a preventive measure, approximately 170 people living in the alert area were temporarily evacuated. The families were moved to safe locations until the completion of the technical assessment already contracted by the company. The experts' report will allow us to assess the situation and indicate the conditions for returning to the properties.

According to the company, there was 174 millimeters of precipitation in 24 hours in the city — according to Climatempo, the historical average for the month is 163 mm.

"The occurrence was identified after the high volume of rain in the region with occurrences of more than 170 millimeters of precipitation in just 24 hours, which led the company to intensify inspections and monitoring of the structure", stated Corsan.