The death toll from torrential rains in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro rose to 122, including 13 children, and the number of missing people exceeded 117, while at least 9 people were killed as a result of the storm that hit countries in northwestern Europe on Friday.

A thunderstorm hit areas in eastern Brazil, resulting in floods, torrential rain and landslides, for the fourth consecutive day, in the mountainous regions of Rio de Janeiro, especially the city of Petropolis in the east of the country, destroying hundreds of housing units.

Rescue teams continue to search for the bodies of the victims and the missing, despite the continued rain that hampers rescue efforts, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who inspected the disaster areas from the air, said that the floods left " scenes of war."

According to the latest non-final official report published by the Brazilian Civil Defense at midday yesterday, 122 bodies were found, 4 of them were found this morning in the city of Petropolis, located 60 km north of Rio de Janeiro.

According to the police, 116 people are missing, and only 57 of those who have died have been identified so far.

On Friday, the sirens sounded again in the vulnerable areas of Petropolis, with a population of 300,000, to warn of the dangers of landslides in the area.

Experts attribute the heavy rains to the phenomenon of "La Niña", the widespread decrease in surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean, and to climate change.

At least 20 people have been killed in floods that rushed through the streets of Petropolis in Brazil.

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— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 16, 2022

Storm "Eunice"

In Europe, a storm coming from the Atlantic Ocean hit countries in the northwest of the continent on Friday, leaving at least 9 people dead and material losses, and causing power outages for tens of thousands of homes, and canceling many flights and trains.

Storm Eunice formed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean and spurted from the Azores towards Europe.

A woman was killed in London when a car collided with a tree, while a man died inside a vehicle in Liverpool due to flying debris, and another man died after his vehicle collided with a tree in Hampshire (southern England).

436 flights were canceled across the United Kingdom due to the strong winds accompanying the storm (110 kilometers per hour at Heathrow Airport in London), and British Homeland Security Minister Damien Hinds said that his country's forces were ready to deal with the consequences caused by the weather, and the minister urged citizens to stay In their homes, the British government also held an emergency committee meeting, the second in two days, to discuss the necessary measures to mitigate the effects of the storm.

Strong winds accompanying the storm led to trees falling in the British capital (Getty)

In the Netherlands, falling trees as a result of the storm killed 3 people, and the fire department in the capital (Amsterdam) said that two people died due to the fall of two trees in the city, and a third in the nearby Dimen area.

home commitment

"Don't go out into the streets, it's really dangerous," Amsterdam police said on Twitter. A spokesman for Schiphol Airport in the Dutch capital said the airport had canceled about 390 flights, schools sent students home early on Friday and trains across the country were cancelled.

In Germany, two people were killed yesterday evening, Friday, in the state of North Rhine and Westphalia in the west of the country, and the fire department said that one of the dead people died as a result of a traffic accident that occurred due to strong winds, while the causes of the accident that killed the second person were not known.

In Belgium, a crane was toppled by high winds on the roof of a hospital, and a British man died after being pushed into the water by strong winds from his boat.

Belgian channel RTE reported that a man died in Ireland after a tree fell on him while removing storm debris.

In Ireland, police said a 60-year-old man was killed by a falling tree on Friday, and more than 80,000 homes lost power.

The storm also injured 11 people in France and cut power to nearly 130,000 homes in the north of the country on Friday evening.