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MMA community rallies after unprecedented floods leave hundreds of
cities underwater in Brazil
(HTM) Source
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The MMA community has come together in support of Rio Grande do Sul in
Brazil.
Hundreds of cities have been hit by a historic flood in the state of
Rio Grande do Sul since late April. So far 95 people have been
confirmed dead and hundreds are still missing. More than 100,000
houses have been damaged or destroyed altogether, leaving more than
200,000 people with no place to live. The local government calculates
nearly a billion dollar in damages so far.
The amount of rain that fell between April 22 and May 6 totaled the
amount that would be expected over a period of five months, which led
the Guaiba lake to flood and invade hundreds of cities, including
state capital Porto Alegre. The Gigantinho gymnasium, which held a UFC
event in 2015 featuring Frank Mir vs. Antonio Silva as main event, is
currently surrounded by water, as are major soccer stadiums and
hundreds of buildings and roads.
Several fighters used their post-fight interviews this past weekend at
UFC 301, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, to call upon their
countrymen to join forces and help the victims. Many others have taken
to social media to announce donation, and coaches and fighters from
all around the world are hosting seminars in exchange for food and
donations.
Tons of non-perishable food donated by fans in exchange for tickets to
the UFC 301 ceremonial weigh-ins on May 3 — items that would
originally be donated to social institutions in Rio de Janeiro — will
now be donated to Canoas, one of the cities most affected by the
floods, UFC announced Tuesday.
One-time Bellator veteran Thiago Meller, who teaches martial arts near
Porto Alegre, told MMA Fighting he has never experienced anything like
this in nearly 30 years of serving in the Brazilian Army.
"It's really, really sad," Meller said. "And it's not only Porto
Alegre. The scenes are shocking. The center of command of the Army
waits on the Civil Defense to see who gets to get saved first. A lot
of people will still show up dead. This is like a war zone. We wake up
every day and see where we're going to help people. Everybody gets on
boats and do what we can. … We have a lot of volunteers helping, but
we don't have enough boats and jet skis."
Meller's house is intact and his wife and kids are safe, but his
75-year-old in-laws lost everything after water entered their
residence by the Guaiba. Meller said that many martial arts gyms have
opened doors to house homeless people.
"We went to a nursing home, a friend asked to take his family to a
safe place," Meller said. "Many people will still show up, people that
are missing. It's so sad. You see people losing everything. An Army
sergeant, a black belt, lost everything. He was doing a crowdfund to
buy clothes because the water took everything he had.
"Everybody is suffering, we all lost something. It's heartbreaking to
see people finding out their houses were destroyed. My father-in-law
thought his house would be safe after I rescued them, and it was hard
to see a big man cry like a child after finding out the water has
taken everything he's built."
It will still take days for the water to lower back to its regular
level, and many months for the state to built itself back up.
_International donations can be made through_ _Brazil Foundation_ _,_
_crowdfunding campaigns_ _, or through the_ _state's official website_
_._
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