VIDEO: Health professionals are rescued by excavator to reach hospital after rain damage in the interior of RS

It was by means of a shovel from a hydraulic excavator that nursing technician Mônia Emília Dumke da Silva, 42, and nurse Djunior Dumke Abich, 24, were able to pass through the place where the head of a bridge fell , on RS-502 , in the Vila Paraíso area.

The incident took place last Thursday (19). They were stranded and the two accesses leading to their work address were blocked.

"A movie played in our heads, as memories of last year's flood came to mind," says Djunior. "What I would really like is quality access, decent for the population, because our hospital is in the countryside, and the road is dirt. When there is heavy rain, it becomes difficult even for patients to get there quickly," he says.

In just 48 hours, 350 mm of rain fell in the municipality , which is still suffering from the consequences of May 2024. Four bridges that collapsed last year have not yet been reestablished .

"They remain on the ground. There are places where, if it rains, people cannot leave their homes," says Agriculture Secretary Jones Diego Radiske.

The philanthropic hospital where Mônia and Djunior work was left without electricity and internet , relying on a generator. On Friday (20), services were back to normal and care was not affected.

One of the accesses to the hospital was made possible on Thursday.

Paraíso do Sul has 6,500 inhabitants. Since last Tuesday (17), the municipal network has suspended classes in five schools.

Since the beginning of the week, storms across the state have left three people dead, one missing and more than 6,500 homeless. At least 107 municipalities have reported flooding, landslides, damage to homes, roads and bridges, as well as thousands of people displaced or homeless, according to the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul.