Chaired by Mayor Enrique Cresto and the Minister of Government Mauro Urribarri, the Civil Defense Committee met and the Social Emergency Council was put into operation, in light of the rising Uruguay River. Engineer Francisco Perez, General Manager of CTM, specified during the meeting and in dialogue with the media that this Thursday "the river will be below 13.50 m" on the local port scale. The mayor ordered the formation of specific operational groups to address "a complex scenario that will persist for several days". The importance of taking as a reference the official information provided daily by Civil Defense was reiterated, and in this sense, the mayor requested that CTM issue two daily reports of forecasts and predictions regarding the river's behavior.
"In this meeting convened by the mayor, we came to communicate that due to the rains that have occurred in the north, we have these flow rates that are arriving and will arrive in the coming days, so if these forecasts are met, we will be at the river height levels we stated," indicated Perez at the end of the meeting, in which the dam's engineers Manuel Irigoyen and Eduardo Zamanillo also participated.
This Thursday "the river will be below 13.50," assured Pérez. He added that "at night the dam does not operate, so that the evacuation can take place during the day." Furthermore, he indicated that Mayor Cresto requested that two daily reports begin to be issued, "one in the morning and one in the afternoon, to inform with the premise of always giving at least 24 hours' notice," said the engineer.
"Since the rise began, we have been moving all families out in what is called 'dry foot,' that is, without the water having entered the homes. For this reason, the mayor maintained, "we requested that CTM issue two daily reports with the forecast of the predictions they are developing. It is important to be able to count on all the information to bring the resident precise information one day in advance," he pointed out.
Regarding the current situation, Cresto specified that "we have 3 evacuation centers conditioned, the health and social assistance teams prepared to reinforce the work that has been done," and added that "school buildings are not being occupied." In this sense, he reported that the Social Emergency Council was also launched, integrated by the local and provincial Executive, councilors and provincial legislators from different blocs, security forces, the Red Cross, the Church, and intermediate institutions, in order to coordinate action in the affected areas.
During the meeting, the mayor highlighted and thanked the presence of all the institutions and NGOs of the city, the different armed and security forces, and the commitment of the political leaders of different parties who were present. "We constituted different operational working groups within the Social Emergency Council, to coordinate the work of each one, so that it does not overlap and allows attention to reach every resident who needs it," indicated the mayor.
For his part, Minister Urribarri pointed out that "Governor Gustavo Bordet proposed that the entire Provincial Cabinet be made available to the Social Emergency Council. Today we are here, the teams from the Ministry of Government and the Ministry of Social Development, to provide the necessary collaboration with the resources that the province has."
The provincial official also reported that "we have held conversations with the Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich and the Minister of the Interior Rogelio Frigerio, who made the necessary resources available in case the situation continues to worsen."
The meeting was also attended by Vice Mayor Armando Gay, Provincial Senator Ángel Giano, provincial deputies Alejandro Bahler and Joaquín La Madrid, former mayor Juan Carlos Cresto, CARU Delegate Eduardo Caminal, Cabinet Coordinator María de los Ángeles Petit, Secretary of Human Development, Health and Environment Guillermo Echenause, among other officials from different municipal areas, councilors from the three blocs, the Provincial Undersecretary of Health Mario Imaz, the Departmental Health Coordinator Susana Calvo, among other provincial officials, Father Daniel Petelin, Father Emanuel Moneta, María Isabel Mover from Cáritas, the vice president of the Electric Cooperative Miguel Russo, the Chief of the Entre Ríos Police Commissioner General Gustavo Maslein, the Departmental Chief Commissioner Mayor Marcelo Den Dawn, the Regiment Chief Lieutenant Colonel José Francisco Cajal, representatives of the Coast Guard, Volunteer Firefighters, the Red Cross, among others.