The Arena do Grêmio, in Porto Alegre, was looted this Sunday morning, as revealed in a video circulating on social media. The images show one of the doors to the stadium’s stores being broken into and looted by a group of people. The club’s management stated that it is not yet possible to measure the loss.

The Arena was considered a vulnerable point by authorities and was evacuated on Friday. The Tricolor Gaucho stadium was one of the places affected by the rise in the level of the Guaíba River, caused by the rains that hit Rio Grande do Sul, responsible for 75 deaths and 103 missing people due to the storms throughout the state.

Conmebol postponed the Grêmio and Internacional games, for the Libertadores and Copa Sul-Americana, respectively, which would take place next week. The two teams would play away from home, but the clubs’ training structure was affected by the rain.

The CBF had also already postponed games for Grêmio — against Criciúma, for the Brazilian Championship — and Inter — against Juventude, for the Copa do Brasil, and Cruzeiro, for the Brazilian Championship — because the clubs are unable to train. The CTs of both and the Arena do Grêmio are flooded, and activities have been suspended.

Internacional’s training center was flooded on Friday morning. CT Parque Gigante was already expected to be affected by the lake level throughout the day. The club prepared for flooding in the complex, as occurred in September and November 2023. According to the ge website, Internacional reported that it closed the CT and prohibited press access for security reasons. In addition, it adopted safety and protection measures for equipment used by football.

Severe flooding

The city of Porto Alegre is under warning of “severe flooding”. The warning was issued by the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul on Saturday night (4), for the increase in the level of the Guaíba River, affected by heavy rains in the last week. This Sunday, the level of Guaíba reached 5.30 meters high at 7 am, according to the State Secretariat for the Environment and Infrastructure (SEMA), in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Brazil (SGB).

The rise of Guaíba is another result of the heavy rains that hit Rio Grande do Sul in recent days. A balance released by the state’s Civil Defense this Sunday morning shows that the number of deaths due to the storms rose to 75. There are still six possible deaths under investigation and 103 missing. The rains already affect 332 of the 497 municipalities.