The disaster affected nearly 2 million people and forced more than 410,000 people to flee their homes. On Friday, more than 71,000 of these people were homeless and 141 were still missing, SBT television reported, citing the latest civil defense announcement.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts have been hampered by heavy rains in Rio Grande do Sul since last week. On Wednesday, as more rain fell, officials called off search operations.
In this context, the BBC describes the actions of Brisoli, who borrowed a kayak from the owner of a fish stand at a local market and went to the particularly flooded town of Canoas to rescue people trapped in the water.
Brisoli couldn’t swim or even use a kayak. He learned this in a flood situation, the BBC insisted.
I was a bit surprised at what I was able to do in the kayak – the 59-year-old assured me that he was in top physical shape having practiced kung fu all his life.
Brisola and other volunteers helped ferry people from hard-to-reach areas to larger boats. According to his son, who participated in the effort, it helped save more than 300 people and many animals in the past week.
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