Highlights
• 677 people displaced by the floods left the shelters and returned to areas of origin or other locations during the returning period.
• Nearly 27,000 people were reached with life-saving messages on prevention and access to services through the multipliers of information.
• Since June, over 1,722 children were provided with protection, psychosocial support and recreational activities through the 18 child friendly spaces established in Porto Alegre, Canoas and São Leopoldo.
• Since May, 41 child protection cases requiring additional support and specialized services were identified and referred. UNICEF and its implementing partners distributed over 2.000 cleaning and disinfection kits, menstrual health and hygiene kits, baby hygiene kits, benefiting families with children and adolescent girls.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
As of 30 September, there were 1.852 people displaced and hosted in 41 shelters in 23 municipalities. This represents a reduction of nearly 98% when compared to the peak period on 12 May, which had over 78,000 people in shelters, and it marks the first time since May that the number of people in shelters has dropped below 2,000. Three out of the 41 shelters are the so-called CHAs (Humanitarian shelter/Centro Humanitario de Acolhimento) hosting a total of 827 people in Porto Alegre (1 CHA) and Canoas (2 CHA)1. The CHAs were designed to host about 800 people each and as of 30 August they were at less than 50% of their full capacity.
About 40% of people displaced and hosted in shelters are in Porto Alegre and Canoas municipalities. It is assumed that the remaining people that left the shelters either returned to their areas of origin or accessed the state/municipality benefits related to solidarity family (Familia solidária), social rent (Aluguel social) or are living with relatives. Only in August 2024, the water supply was restored by the water companies in Porto Alegre, São Leopoldo, and Canoas.
In Porto Alegre, the last treatment plant to be restored resumed operations on June 8. During the most critical period of the storms and floods, 85% of the city's population was without water. According to CORSAN (Rio Grande do Sul Water Company), 67 cities had their water supply interrupted during the floods, and by May 21, all water supply systems had been recovered.
The army continues providing operational and logistic support to the state of Rio Grande do Sul to alleviate the suffering of affected population. The support consists of cleaning of schools, health facilities, transport and distribution of supplies, removal of debris, aviation services among others. This support from army forces was planned until August 2024, however, the state of Rio Grande do Sul requested to extend until the end of September 2024 due to a forecast of potential heavy rains.
The Caravan of Rights (Caravana de Direitos), a program promoted by the Union Public Defender (Defensoria Publica de Unio - DPU) to bring public services close to the affected people continued with its activities, having organized 45 missions (50 percent of the planned) and assisting a total of 17,935 people in the state2. The main requests from the people assisted were related to accessing social benefits established by the Government namely, reconstruction support (Auxilio Reconstrução), PIX SOS Rio Grande do Sul (Electronic Cash Transfer), Program “Volta por Cima”, Social benefits through the Unified Registry for Social Programs (CAD Único), among others.
In September, the state government gave USD 900,000 to 83 affected schools, marking the fourth instalment since May, totalling USD 10 million since June. These funds are being distributed to 692 institutions based on the damage to infrastructure, equipment, and materials. However, as of October, 8,463 students of the state network still depend on remote classes. In Porto Alegre, of the 14 affected state schools, 12 are under restoration and two fully repaired, leaving all 4,147 students either in alternative spaces or attending online classes. As of the municipal network, seven schools which have been closed since May resumed activities in mid-September.
In Canoas, 41 of the 83 local schools were impacted, still affecting over 20,000 students, in addition to one state school - with 898 adolescents - that is expected to reopen in 2025. Also, two of 39 early childhood development units are still closed. Meanwhile, in São Leopoldo and Pelotas, the 9th and 4th largest cities, also severely affected in May, recently faced school closures due to new floodings. Smaller municipalities, like Eldorado do Sul, which was heavily affected with 90% of homes flooded and many crops destroyed, continue to struggle. At least 5,400 residents have not returned home, exacerbating school dropout and evasion risks.