Help for Families in Brazil's Flood Crisis

Instagram Page: @sos_rio_grande_do_sul

Organized by:

Marcio da Rocha https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcdarocha

Fabiano Laux

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabiano-notti-laux/

Rakan Damra

https://www.linkedin.com/in/damrakan/

Renato Seintenfus

https://www.linkedin.com/in/renato-seitenfus-39808489/

The Situation: Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul is being inundated by its worst flooding in 80 years, killing 100 people and rendering thousands homeless. By noon on May 8, state authorities said 372 people had been injured and 128 were unaccounted for. More than 1.45 million people were affected by the floods, which have spread to 417 of the state’s 497 cities.Rains are expected to persist over the weekend.

Area: State: Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul is Brazil's southernmost state, bordering Argentina and Uruguay. In its northeast, the mountainous Serra Gaucha is home to the Vale dos Vinhedos wine region and includes German-style resort towns like Gramado and Canela, known for picturesque natural settings. Porto Alegre, the capital, is a major port with classic structures like the Public Market and Metropolitan Cathedral in its historic center.

The Idea: We are four Gaúchos—natives of Rio Grande do Sul now living in Florida and working in the travel industry. Instead of making sporadic small donations, and in response to the enthusiasm from our friends here who are also eager to assist, we've decided to support 14 families that are close to us and got severely impacted by the recent disaster who have lost everything. Our goal is to raise $1,000 per family.

Should we fall short of our target, the collected funds will be evenly distributed among the families. However, if we exceed our goal, which we hope to do, additional families will be included in our initiative. Funds will be raised through a GoFundMe account and deposited into one of our local bank accounts before being transferred to Brazil for distribution to the families.

We commit to full transparency: all transactions will be diligently reported and shared with all donors. Updates and detailed reports will also be posted on the Instagram account created for this initiative.

@SOS_Rio_Grande_do_Sul

Marcio da Rocha linkedin.com/in/marcdarocha

Fabiano Laux https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabiano-notti-laux/

Rakan Damra https://www.linkedin.com/in/damrakan/

Renato Seintenfus https://www.linkedin.com/in/renato-seitenfus-39808489/

City: São Leopoldo

São Leopoldo is a Brazilian industrial city located in the south state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Wilborn Family

Eloisa Wilborn, 52 years old, administrative assistant.

Marcus Vinicius Wilborn, 21 years old, student.

The family had to leave their house in the rush because one of the flooding contention walls that protected the city collapsed. Their house has been topped by the waters.

Tramontim Family

Ages Tramontim, 67 years old, retired, post-ischemic stroke, has hypertension, mobility difficulties due to the sequelae of the stroke.

Sonia Tramontim: retired.

Rodrigues Family

Agueda Ines Rodrigues, 72 years old, retired.

Rafael Rodrigues, 42 years old, suffers from severe depression.

Werckmeister Family

Renato Werckmeister, 65, Engineer. Originally from Rio de Janeiro has been living in Rio Grande so Sul for over 30 year. Had to leave with his family moments before it was completely topped by waters of almost 2 meters.

Muhammad Family

Adriana Muhammad 58, Psychologist and Yezan Damra 26 student, have lived all their lives in Sao Leopoldo. The family had to leave their house, which they have lived over 20 years, in the middle of the night a few hours before the house was topped by waters.

Tramontim Family (2)

Felipe Tramontim and Graziela Formiga Oliveira are currently in their fifth month of pregnancy.

City: Guíba – RS

Guaíba is a city located in the Metropolitan Porto Alegre of Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is on the shores of the Guaíba Lake.

Dorneles Family

Vanessa Dorneles: 40 years old, nursing technician, works in the neonatal ICU at Hospital de Clínicas and at Modelo Health Clinic.

Raul Ayres: 36 years old, Electrical technician.

Yan Dorneles: 20 years old, PE student.

Gabriel Dorneles: 12 years old, primary school student.

City: Canoas

Canoas is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, forming part of the Greater Porto Alegre area. It is the largest municipality of the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre and the third largest municipality of Rio Grande do Sul.

Oliveira Family

João Carlos de Oliveira, 44 years old, entrepreneur

Simone de Oliveira, housewife

Juann de Oliveira, student

Pietro de Oliveira, student

De Souza Family

Dailei Cassel de Souza

Iria Cassel Raymundo

De Souza Family (2)

Daiglei Cassel de Souza

André de Souza

Estrada Family

Cláudio Roberto Brum Estrada - He left home on Friday and hasn't been able to return. He rented a house that was flooded and lost all his belongings. A good guy who has been working for 25 years in our building in Porto Alegre as a security guard.

City: Arroio do Meio – RS

Arroio do Meio is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is 98 km from Porto Alegre. It is on the banks of the Taquari River.

Alberton Family

Emma Alberton, 94 years old, born on November 11, 1929, mother of 14 children, lived on Visconde de Rio Branco Street in a house built in 1970. That year, the entire family lived in this house. Most of her children live around Emma's house because their grandfather (Nono) bought a piece of land at the time and divided it into lots for the children, and each child inherited 3 lots, which is why they all live very close to each other.

Underneath that house was a basement, which was the location for the Sunday barbecue where the children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law, and the entire Alberton family gathered. It was also the location of Ivone's beauty salon (all of which is now destroyed).

Ivone Alberton, born on December 8, 1960, the sixth child of the 14 of Emma and Tranquilo Alberton, lived in a house built in 1990 on Tranquilo Domingos Alberton Street (named after her father, Nono Alberton). She worked in the salon located beneath her mother’s house, Nona. The house is destroyed; the house on the street named after her father is destroyed.

Camilo Alberton, 66 years old, the 7th of the 14 children, lived with Nona, took care of her, and supported himself with the rent from the townhouses built on one of the plots he also inherited. The townhouses are destroyed, the top floor is gone, and only the walls of the rest remain.

All these, plus 9 other houses belonging to the Alberton family, were affected this year. Not to forget, they had also been impacted by the flood in September 2023, albeit to a lesser extent.