Elon Musk to donate 1,000 Starlink terminals to rescuers in flood-hit Brazil

Billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday (local time) said that Starlink, his satellite internet company, will donate 1,000 terminals to emergency responders in Brazil’s flood-hit Rio Grande do Sul state. The state is battling with the worst flooding in 80 years due to torrential rainfall.

“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,” Musk tweeted.

So far, 107 people have died in the severe flooding in southern Brazil as emergency responders race against time to save people trapped in homes and other places due to the calamity, Reuters reported.

Rescuers rescued a horse that was trapped on a rooftop for two days in a badly flooded town in Rio Grande do Sul. As of now, 136 people are still missing and authorities rescued 1.65 lakh others trapped in their flooded homes by boats and helicopters as roads turned into rivers due to days of heavy rainfall.

No respite is expected for the next few days as the weather department has forecast more rainfall. This has raised fears of further rise in water levels in the inundated state capital of Porto Alegre and nearby towns, a Reuters report said.