April 30, 2022

10:04

Ívina Garcia – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The ‘Operation Flood 2022’ provides for the investment of R$ 100 million to assist families affected by the flood that occurs in the months of June to November. Among the plans presented by the State Government this Friday, 29, are the distribution of the State Aid card in the value of R$ 300.

The benefit distributed to 100 thousand families will be paid in a single installment. The governor also announced the transfer of resources to municipalities through agreements. The plan includes the release of credit and the forgiveness of debts with the Amazonas Development Agency (Afeam), for entrepreneurs who have suffered losses due to the flood.

The State Aid will benefit the families registered by the Civil Defense agencies of the municipalities, for having their houses invaded by the rising rivers. The financial transfer to the municipalities will happen through an agreement, which will require a work plan to be presented and executed by the municipalities that declare an emergency situation.

“We have advanced in some situations, we acquired 19 speed boats that we will receive now in May, to give support to these municipalities. The State Flood Aid, so that the families can buy what they need most, be it groceries, medicines, diapers, or clothes. We have already delivered to the families of the 12 municipalities in an emergency situation 30 thousand basic food baskets and we will continue with the distribution of fish from the Peixe no Prato Solidário program”, declared Wilson Lima in a press conference.

Besides sending basic food baskets, hygiene kits, and sleeping kits, ‘Operation Flood 2022’ will reinforce the supply of drinking water by sending Mobile Water Treatment Stations and Good Water Project Stations.

“We are going to install 300 more water filters in the countryside, this is equipment that lasts from 10 to 15 years. We are also delivering to these families sodium hypochlorite to help purify the water, and taking more medicines and vaccines for diseases that are common to these areas that end up being flooded,” added the governor.

Municipalities affected

According to the Civil Defense, Amazonas currently has 12 municipalities in a state of emergency, 37 on alert, and seven in a situation of attention due to the rising rivers. The 12 in a state of emergency are: Guajará, Ipixuna, Envira, Itamarati, Eirunepé, Juruá, Boca do Acre, Lábrea, Canutama, Benjamin Constant, Manacapuru and Careiro da Várzea.

The most worrying situations are the municipalities of Anamã, which is 100% flooded, and Careiro da Várzea, with 90%. This year, the estimate is that 385 thousand people will be affected; in 2021 it was more than 500 thousand people.

Operation Flood

The planning for ‘Operação Enchente 2022’ began in December 2021. At that time, hydro-climatic monitoring indicated a risk of flooding the state’s rivers, above normal for 2022, in the state’s 62 municipalities. Now, the forecast is that between 45 and 40 cities will be affected.

“We have some flumes very close to the historical marks, unlike the December forecast, that all of them were with their levels above the last historical mark. But it doesn’t take away, yet, the affectation condition, because most of these cities will reach their overflow quota”, observed Colonel Francisco Máximo, holder of the Subcommand for Civil Defense Actions (Subcomadec).