Fueled By Local Hands: Brazil Floods

FUELED BY LOCAL HANDS

Meet the Team That Helped Brazilians Recover from Unprecedented Floods

In May 2024, torrential rains triggered catastrophic flooding in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, wiping out vital infrastructure including roads, bridges, water, and electricity. Clay-colored water rushed into homes, buildings, and businesses, impacting over 2 million people and leaving nearly 600,000 displaced.

CORE rapidly mobilized to support impacted communities surrounding the state’s capital, Porto Alegre. When our emergency response team arrived, they were graciously met by residents, local activists, and leaders of community-based organizations determined to support their neighbors with much-needed relief. True to our ethos, CORE helped to build the capacity of these locally led efforts to reach more people. Together, we distributed vital cleaning and food kits; delivered cash to buy mattresses and critical goods; and provided baby supplies, menstrual pads, and other hygiene items to help families who had lost everything.

Brazil Emergency Response Team and Partners

Semara de Albuquerque

Semara is a community leader in Canoas, a town on the outskirts of Porto Alegre which saw heavy flooding that displaced nearly one-third of its residents. Fortunately, Semara’s home withstood the disaster and sustained little damage. She graciously offered up her home as a base for relief supply distributions in the immediate aftermath. Mobilizing her neighbors, she passed out hot dogs and coffee on the first day; assembled and distributed over 150 lunches over the next couple days; then clothes and blankets to keep people warm. Impacted community members learned about her services through word of mouth, and she continuously adapted to meet their needs.

CORE luckily connected with Semara and helped reinforce her efforts and reach more people. Together in her home, we assembled and distributed hundreds of hygiene and cleaning kits.

“I have a phrase that I’ve been saying often: There are people who were hit by the flood, and there are people who were chosen to help those who were hit by the flood. And I am the part that was chosen to help those people.”

Gisele Vidal

An activist, founder of a local entrepreneurial collective called EmpoderaOn, and advisor to a state deputy, Gisele is deeply embedded in the Canoas community. She regularly works to empower socially vulnerable community members, including women, single mothers, children, elderly folks, and those within LGBTQ+ and racial minority groups.

Joining the flood relief efforts was an easy decision; utilizing her connections, she helped displaced people locate shelters, scoured the town collecting resources to keep people warm, and quickly began registering flood-affected families to help link them to federal resources and identify unmet needs. Gisele, who was working with Semara, helped CORE connect with marginalized communities that needed support in the area. She said that CORE’s partnership expanded their capacity to help more people.

“We had a very large number of Black people and very low-income people…living in these affected areas. These people were already vulnerable…We will have to help people rebuild their history, beyond just their homes, their lives, their dignity.”

Mauricio Lorenzato

Mauricio is a resident and passionate community organizer in the Sarandi neighborhood of Porto Alegre. He works for Multiplicidade, a local organization that mobilized immediately to support those devastated by the floods. Mauricio and his team operated a support center out of a local warehouse, initially registering impacted families and documenting their loss from the unprecedented disaster.

When CORE connected with the Multiplicidade team, we helped furnish the warehouse with more tables, chairs, and shelves and provided them with hygiene kits to distribute. We also procured generators and pressure washers that Multiplicidade lent to residents to help clean mud out of their homes.

“We have been relying heavily on the support of residents themselves in this process, but also the support of people who come from afar, like CORE…to bring solidarity…and for that, we are very grateful.”

Marcelo Tavares

Marcelo has lived in Eldorado Do Sul since 2008. He recalls several floods impacting neighborhoods in Porto Alegre—but none as devastating or widespread as this. Marcelo was amongst the millions of people affected by the climate disaster. The water severely damaged his home and destroyed most of his personal belongings.

But after seeking immediate safety for himself and his family, Marcelo returned to Eldorado Do Sul to volunteer alongside first responders, carrying out rescues, cleaning homes, and distributing food, clothing, and other relief items. He and his team welcomed CORE, sharing valuable insight into the specific needs of vulnerable neighborhoods and later distributing cleaning supplies, water jets, and more.

“The hope is to rebuild our city that we love so much and that we adopted. We want to live in it, we want to create even more history…This work is very important.”

Learn more about our locally led emergency response in Brazil, which has reached over 5,100 people impacted by the devastating floods. Community members like Semara, Gisele, Mauricio, and Marcelo truly drive our work and mission. Their commitment to uplifting their neighbors both in emergency contexts and beyond inspires and propels us to continue serving those most in need.