In his 59 years of life, Ivan Brizola, from Rio Grande do Sul, never learned to swim. But when heavy flooding hit that Brazilian state this week, he borrowed a kayak – which he had also never used before – and went out to rescue people trapped by water.
Brizola told BBC News Brazil that he was already worried when the rains started.
Resident in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, he heard warnings from friends who work in security that the risk was imminent and felt he had to do something.
He began calling friends and family to warn them of the dangers they would all face.
When “chaos ensued” and “the water began to take over the neighborhoods,” borrowed a kayak to the owner of the fish stall in the market in front of his house and drove to Canoas, a town that had been hit hard.
His own home, in Porto Alegre, was not affected.
Without clothing or rescue equipment other than the kayak, he learned to handle the boat in the middle of the floods.
“I was a little surprised by what I could do in the kayak,” says Brizola, who claims to be in excellent physical condition after having He practiced kung fu throughout his life.
A teacher by training, today he works in dog training, shows and health treatments for children with the help of animals.
On the second day of the rescue, when he was helping people in the Mathias Velho neighborhood, he looked down through the water and saw that at the bottom were the transformers for the light poles.
“The water reached eight, maybe ten meters deep,” he estimates.
Although he didn’t know how to swim, he says that I was not afraidI was just focused.
“So much so that I couldn’t say exactly what day it is. If you ask in general, you will only notice that people are focused. They don’t know what day it is. The mission really is to help your brother”, he tells BBC News Brazil.
Rescue
In collaboration with other volunteers, Brizola helped move larger boats to several people stranded in hard-to-reach places.
According to the story of his son, who also helped in the rescues, Brizola must have helped more than 300 people during the last week, not counting the animals.
“Today we went to look for an angry dog that was trapped on the second floor of a building,” Brizola says.
“Several people tried to rescue him, along with the owner. But the dog attacked them. Then I said: ‘Let him go,’ he says, proud of his skill with the dogs.
With the kayak he also rescued a 90-year-old man who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
He himself will officially become a senior next week, when he turns 60 years. And despite good health, the rescue efforts have been a continuous effort.
“The first day I had to take a muscle relaxerbut then I took it calmly,” says the man, who has 19 dogs (ten adults and nine puppies).
“Today I woke up at 4:30, got up, fed the dogs, cleaned the kennels, fried eggs with bread and left,” he says.
Reconstruction
The floods that hit Rio Grande do Sul left until last Thursday, May 9 107 dead and 327,000 homeless, and affected 1.7 million people in 431 municipalities.
And forecasts indicate that the entire state will suffer more rains and strong winds over the weekend, according to weather services.
Brizola tries not to get discouraged and says he has energy for more days of work in the rescue.
“One thing we must carry in our hearts, whoever is helping, is not to get depressed in the face of tragedy”, it states. “Everyone is very, very shocked.”
He says that, just as volunteers rescue residents, those who can also help rescue teams: “They offer water (which is scarce in the state), food, they help in whatever way they can.”
“Those who are receiving help understand that they are gaining a lot in love, and this union is what will keep us going. If we turn this energy the other way, becoming depressed, then the bill becomes more expensive.”
“I just want to work, be like a little ant who carries my burden every day. And let’s move forward.”
Your concern and that of other volunteers is What will happen when the water goes down.
“I have two concerns: first, what will we find underwater,” he says. “And second, to think that this is only half the job what is there to do”.
He says that, in addition to kung fu, training dogs and being a teacher, he has some skills that could be used for renovations and is available for voluntary work.
“When I was a child, I took an electrician course. So I am available to the community to help with electrical reconstruction in my free time,” he says.
“I think now we have to join hands to move on to this other part, which is reconstruction, where people have a life to return to,” he says.
Despite everything, Brizola has not lost The good mood.
“We give people joy when we go to rescue them, you know,” he says. “I asked the old man: have you ever been to Venice? No? I never went either. But look, the boatman will take you here.”
*Letícia Mori collaborated from São Paulo
Click here to read more stories from BBC News Mundo.
You can also follow us on Youtube, instagram, TikTok, x, Facebook and in our new whatsapp channelwhere you’ll find breaking news and our best content.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.
- “Entire cities are going to have to move”: the catastrophic consequences of the floods that affect Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil
- The shocking images of the floods in southern Brazil that caused the death of at least 85 people