At least 23 people have died in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro after heavy rain and landslides. This was reported by Brazilian television on Tuesday. According to the report, the bodies were found after the level in the flooded city center of Petrópolis dropped.
The news portal G1 reported that the city was flooded in several places and cars were swept away. The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, appeared at a meeting in Petrópolis in the mountains behind Rio, which is dominated by German immigrants, to determine the state government’s measures, according to a statement. Rainfall of up to 259 millimeters had fallen within six hours on Tuesday afternoon, more than was expected for all of February.
Petrópolis stretches over several mountains and valleys and is home to around 300,000 people. The city is also a popular vacation spot for Rio residents because of its location and cool climate during the hot summer months in the southern hemisphere.
In the past few weeks, at least ten people have died from landslides and floods in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais. There was also a tragedy when a rock face fell on a tourist boat on Furnas Dam, killing ten people. It was unclear whether the heavy rain had also contributed to the loosening of a large part of the rock.
The state of Bahia, which borders Minas Gerais to the northeast, had previously experienced the worst flooding in more than 30 years. More than 900 people died in a storm in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro in 2011. It was considered the worst storm disaster in the country’s history, and Petrópolis was also particularly affected.