Cracks Found in São Marcos Dam Prompt Emergency Evacuations

Overview

• Corsan Aegea told authorities that inspections on Wednesday found fissures with active leakage in the Arroio São Luiz dam and the company activated its Emergency Action Plan and warned Defesa Civil.
• A Cell Broadcast alert was sent and municipal teams began preventive removal of roughly 170 people from about 60 buildings downstream, including a school, with families staying in hotels and with relatives.
• Operators have opened the outlet and installed pumps to speed water removal and cut pressure on the dam while on-site technical teams monitor conditions and contracted specialists prepare a formal laudo to guide next steps.
• State response units including Defesa Civil RS, the 9th Regional Coordination and the Gabinete Integrado de Gerenciamento de Desastres have set up a local incident cabinet and are coordinating support with the city of São Marcos.
• The immediate trigger was an unusually intense storm that dropped about 174 mm of rain in 24 hours in São Marcos and the event forms part of a wider late-September system that caused hundreds of incidents and fatalities across Rio Grande do Sul.