Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul confirmed on Sunday (12) that donations of a thousand terminals from Starlink, Elon Musk’s company that provides internet connection without optical fiber, arrived in the state. Rio Grande do Sul is facing a severe internet shortage in several regions due to the climate catastrophe.
The equipment arrived at the Canoas air base on Saturday night (11) and will help re-establish communication at the main points of Civil Defense, Public Security, health units, schools and essential public services during the period of calamity.
The donation was motivated by a request made by Fábio Faria, former Minister of Communications in the Bolsonaro government, to Elon Musk. Faria used a video of model Gisele Bündchen, who was born in the state, to raise awareness around the world. Musk has declared that internet access will be free “until the region recovers.”
Given the terrible flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, @Starlink will donate 1000 terminals to emergency responders and make usage for all terminals in the region free until the region has recovered.
I hope the best for the people of Brazil. pic.twitter.com/NK6kjz7Iag
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2024
p class=” “>The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB), thanked the businessman for the donations via X (formerly Twitter). “Thank you so much, Elon Musk, for the donation of 1000 Starlink satellite internet antennas. As the equipment will come with the data services included throughout the period of calamity, it will be extremely useful in this period of reconstruction of our state!”
In the last update released by the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul, on May 12, at 12 pm, more than 2.1 million people were affected, with 806 missing and 131 deaths. The storms, which began on April 29, have caused damage to buildings and raised the level of rivers and streams, leaving many people homeless.
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