After landslides and floods caused by heavy rain, the number of dead in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro has now risen to at least 204. This was reported by the Brazilian news portal “G1”, citing the fire department on Wednesday. At least 51 more people were still missing, according to “G1”. Almost 1000 people became homeless.
The search is repeatedly hampered by wind and persistent rain. It had rained so heavily on Tuesday evening that streets in Petrópolis were flooded again. Many of the relatives and friends are looking for missing people themselves – like the father of a teenager who was torn into a river on a bus.
“It’s no use talking to one, talking to the other and wasting time while my son is there somewhere, and many other people are there somewhere too,” quoted “G1” Leandro da Rocha. “We have to find her.”
According to the weather station Climatempo, on Tuesday last week it rained more in six hours than had been expected for the whole month of February. Slopes slid, streets were flooded, cars and even buses were swept away by the water masses. “It was the worst rain in Petrópolis since 1932,” said Rio de Janeiro state governor Cláudio Castro.
Shaped by German immigrants, Petrópolis was once the summer residence of the Brazilian imperial family. Today, the city is a popular vacation spot for Rio residents due to its high altitude and cool climate during the southern hemisphere summer months.