'Our house is gone', cries farmer whose home was destroyed by storm; more than 300 are still away from home in RS

More than 300 people are still outside their homes after the storms that hit Rio Grande do Sul between Tuesday (3) and Wednesday (4). Among them is farmer Jonas Zoia, who saw the residence he lives in with his wife completely destroyed in the interior of Tuparendi, a city neighboring Santa Rosa, in the northwest of RS.

"My husband looked out the window and said: 'our house is gone'", reports Anaísa Rambo, Jonas' wife.

The rains in RS left 25 people injured, one missing and affected more than 49 thousand people, according to data from the state's Civil Defense released this Thursday morning (5).

According to the survey, damage was recorded in 116 cities. The predominant climatic events were windstorms, hail, intense rains, flash floods, lightning, flooding and landslides.

Among the injured victims, the majority are in the city of Nova Prata, which accounts for 15 cases. There are also reports of injuries in Rodeio Bonito (three), Espumoso (two), Encantado (one), Passa Sete (one), Santo Ângelo (one), São Pedro do Sul (one) and Água Santa (one).

The balance also shows that 235 people are homeless and 93 are homeless as a result of the climate events.

Material damage includes 10 houses destroyed, 6,400 damaged, 2,100 roofed and 107 flooded. Public infrastructure was also affected, with structural damage to 87 educational establishments, 20 health units and 29 other public buildings. In addition, 119 other establishments suffered damage.

'Our house is gone', says farmer

Jonas and Anaísa's house was completely destroyed after the storm hit the interior of Tuparendi at around 8:30 am on Wednesday (4). Only two walls of the structure were left standing.

At the time of the strong wind, the residents of the residence, the farmers, were not there. The couple had taken shelter in Anaísa's mother's house, located about 200 meters away, and suffered no damage. Nobody was injured.

The resident reports that, from the bathroom window, her husband observed the direction of the couple's residence. "My husband Jonas then looked out the window and he said 'it was our house'. But when he looked, we thought it was the roof. Then we waited for it to calm down a bit before we could leave", she says.

Jonas became emotional during the interview with RBS TV. He states that he intends to rebuild the residence. "Of course, we're going to rebuild, we're going to do it all," he highlights, adding that the family is receiving support from relatives and friends.

"The impact was very big, it was a scene out of a horror movie, really desperate. When the wind started, we were downstairs at our mother's house and we ran to the bathroom there, which has a roof in the house, to protect ourselves", says Anaísa.

When they returned to the land, they saw the destruction. The family had lived there for three years and the residence was still being expanded. Recently, the structure had already been roofed by a storm. "We reinforced the roof, everything, but now it's a total loss", he concludes.