On April 29, a hydroelectric plant in Rio Grande do Sul-Brazil collapsed due to heavy rains, causing the loss of 100 lives and leaving 128 people missing. The crisis has affected 401 municipalities and displaced at least 160,000 people.
Some areas of Porto Alegre have been partially submerged, leading to the closure of the airport, stopping bus services, and road blockages. Rio Grande do Sul is a state with a significant presence of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities who live from agriculture and have seen their situation of vulnerability worsened due to displacement and loss of their homes and the land that provides them with daily food.
The forecast for the next few days is bleak, with continued heavy rains and winds of 100km per hour expected. Needs will continue to grow as the weather worsens and existing vulnerabilities get compounded. Myriad USA is launching this disaster campaign to support urgent response activities in affected communities.
Source BBC Brazil floods: Dam collapses and death toll rises in Rio Grande do Sul (bbc.com)
Myriad USA is assessing and working with trusted local partners in their response efforts. Our initial partners for this response are:
Fundo Casa Socioambiental
Fundo Casa promotes environmental conservation and sustainability, democracy, respect for socio-environmental rights and social justice. Since its inception and up to 2022, the Casa Fund has supported 3,160 socio-environmental initiatives by NGOs and community groups in Brazil and South America.
They are responding to the short- and long-term needs related to this disaster
Current needs that this campaign will support include:
- Immediate support for shelters and essential supplies
- Psychosocial assistance for those who have lost family members and face displacement
- Support to generate short-term economic income alternatives for displaced families
Fundação Gerações
In the midst of loss and destruction, Fundação Gerações, aligned with its mission, is engaged in the processes of reconstructing the most vulnerable territories affected by the force of the flooding in the Porto Alegre region.
They are collaborating with institutions with expertise in mobilizing emergency funds, such as the Instituto Comunitário da Grande Florianópolis (ICOM) and Associação Nossa Cidade (Fundo Brumadinho), peers of Fundação Gerações, united by the Institute of Private Social Development – IDIS, in the Transforming Territories program. When the water recedes, they will be prepared to support in an effective, intelligent, and targeted way with different actors from organized civil society and other organizations committed to overcoming the damage of this climate emergency.
All resources will be fully used to finance emergency support and repair initiatives. Fundação Gerações is already mapping strategic actors in community action actively involved in the management of the shelter system for the homeless people in Porto Alegre.
We continue to assess the list of local organizations working on relief and recovery and will update this page as we have new information.
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