The terrible toll continues to grow in Petropolis after floods and landslides.

At least 104 people have died, the Civil Defense announced on Thursday.

Two days after the heaviest rains in 90 years in this Brazilian tourist city, residents are threatened by new heavy rainfall on Thursday.

"At this stage we have recorded 104 deaths and the firefighters have found 24 survivors," said the Civil Defense of this locality located 60 km north of Rio, in southeastern Brazil.

In the streets of Petropolis, overflown by rescue helicopters, many residents spoke on Thursday morning of missing relatives or neighbors, whose number officially stands at 35, noted an AFP journalist.

Soil instability and predicted rains

Firefighters worked all night from Wednesday to Thursday in the city of 300,000 people, but had to stop for a few hours due to unstable waterlogged soil.

But the situation threatens to get worse.

Civil Defense issued an advisory for "new heavy rain (Thursday) in the evening or next night" and warned that "new alerts may be issued at any time".

Orem por pela população de Petrópolis.

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— Rafael (@Rafaeltwin) February 15, 2022

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In the event of heavy rains, "people in high-risk areas must seek refuge in a safe place", warned the Civil Defense, adding that 33 schools were hosting the victims.

The still provisional toll had increased hour by hour on Wednesday, after torrential rains which transformed the picturesque streets of the center into rivers of mud, flattened houses and overturned dozens of cars.

More than 180 firefighters

Brazil has been hit in this rainy season by particularly severe rainfall – in the states of Bahia (northeast), Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo (southeast).

With global warming, the risk of heavy rainfall events increases, according to scientists.

These rains, associated in particular in Brazil with an often wild urbanization, favor floods and deadly landslides.

More than 180 firefighters were in Petropolis, along with some 400 military personnel, scouring the muddy ground in this mountain town.

The most affected neighborhood is Alto da Serra, a hill that many families had to descend in tears on Wednesday, carrying the meager belongings they were able to save.

The town hall of Petropolis decreed a “state of calamity” and a three-day mourning.

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  • Landslide

  • Brazil

  • Natural disaster

  • Flood

  • World

  • Rio

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