Ministers of Health, Citizenship, Regional Development and Tourism flew over the Pernambuco capital to analyze the damage caused by the weather conditions
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) supported on Sunday (May 29) the activities of an inter-ministerial committee in the city of Recife (PE), hit by heavy rains since last week. From the Recife Air Base (BARF), a VC-99 aircraft of the Special Transport Group (GTE) brought a team led by the Ministers of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, of Citizenship, Ronaldo Bento, and of Regional Development, Daniel Ferreira. They were joined by the Minister of Tourism, Carlos Brito, as well as congressmen, representatives of the National Secretariats of Social Assistance, Civil Defense, and local authorities.
“The word that the Federal Government brings to these families, these victims, is of profound sorrow. In this first moment, it is a coordinated action of the Federal Government that involves entities that participate in this moment of union and of overcoming the obstacles that a crisis of this magnitude brings. This is the reason why five ministries are here today – the four ministers present and teams from the Ministry of Labor,” explained the Minister of Citizenship, Ronaldo Bento.
The delegation was welcomed by the Commander of the Second Regional Air Command (II COMAR), Air Major João Campos Ferreira Filho, and by the Commander of the BARF, Air Colonel Rodrigo Santos de Faria. They then boarded an H-36 Caracal aircraft, from the Falcão Squadron (1º/8th GAV), based in Parnamirim (RN), and a Bell 407 from the Federal Highway Police (PRF) to conduct a reconnaissance flight over the impacts of the rains in the Metropolitan Region of Recife.
The following municipalities were flown over: Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Camaragibe, São Lourenço da Mata, Olinda and Recife. After the landing, the Ministers held a press conference at the BARF for members of the press and representatives of state and municipalities impacted by the rains.
“The ministerial technical teams have a lot of experience in situations like this. This year, unfortunately, we have already faced problems in Petrópolis and Angra dos Reis (RJ), in the South of Bahia, in the North of Minas Gerais, and now in Pernambuco and Alagoas. The conduct will be the same: nobody will be left behind,” said Marcelo Queiroga, responsible for the Health portfolio.
“Last year, Brazil went through the biggest drought in the last 91 years, and now we see all this water falling in several parts of Brazil, in Alagoas, in Pernambuco. The updated situation is that 44 deaths, 56 missing, 25 injured, 3,957 homeless and 533 displaced were registered. Even though the state and the local municipality have very well structured Civil Defenses, a rain of this magnitude causes damage in any municipality in Brazil. So we immediately made the Federal Civil Defense available and a team will remain here as long as the situation requires,” described the Minister of Regional Development, Daniel Ferreira.
FAB Search and Rescue
The aircraft of the 1º/8th GAV, an Operational Squadron based at Natal Air Base, took off at 06:00 this Sunday morning with a crew prepared to perform rescues and give support to the victims of the disaster. The aircraft landed in Recife at 7:05 a.m. to perform a reconnaissance flight and will remain available to be called upon at any time.
Search, rescue and salvage. The FAB Search and Rescue missions take place over the entire national territory, in the territorial sea and also in a wide area of international waters in the Atlantic. They are carried out by several Squadrons, supported by SALVAERO and the Brazilian Mission Control Center (BRMCC), through the Rescue Coordination Centers.
Currently, FAB has ten Search and Rescue Squadrons located in Campo Grande (MS), Parnamirim (RN), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Santa Maria (RS), Manaus (AM), Canoas (RS) and Belém (PA).
*** Translated DEFCONPress Team ***