Authorities confirmed on Thursday that the death toll has increased to 105 after deadly flash floods and landslides rocked the scenic Brazilian city of Petropolis. Rescue personnel are racing against time to find any possible survivors among the mud and rubble.
When strong storms dropped a month’s worth of rain in three hours on the scenic tourist town in the hills north of Rio de Janeiro, streets turned into rivers and houses were carried away.
With hundreds still missing, firefighters and volunteers scrambled through the ruins of houses washed away in rivers of mud, many of them in impoverished hillside slums, fearful that the death toll would rise even higher.
It’s the latest in a string of fatal storms that have battered Brazil in the last three months, and scientists warn climate change is exacerbating the problem.
At least 24 individuals were rescued, according to the state authorities.
Rescue teams were desperately searching for additional individuals before it was too late, using dogs, excavators, and helicopters, according to the Rio public prosecutor’s office, which reported that 35 people had gone missing.
Officials said about 300 people were being accommodated in shelters, the majority of which were schools. Mattresses, food, drink, clothing, and face masks were among the items requested by charities for the victims.
Wendel Pio Lourenco, a 24-year-old local, was going down the street with a television in his arms, looking for sanctuary at a local church.
After spending a sleepless night assisting in the hunt for victims, he said he was attempting to save a few possessions.
“I found a girl who was buried alive,” he said.
“Everyone is saying it looks like a war zone.”
Governor Claudio Castro said the same after visiting the scene.
“It looks like a scene from a war. It’s incredible,” he said, adding that it was the worst rain since 1932.
He applauded rescuers for “saving a large number of individuals before it was too late.”
The streets of Petropolis, the 19th-century summer capital of the Brazilian empire, were inundated with torrential floods that carried away cars, trees, and practically everything else in their path, according to videos posted on social media from Tuesday’s storms.
The increasing water swamped many stores as it poured down the streets of the ancient city centre, leaving a mess of wrecked cars in its wake.
More than 180 firefighters and other rescue workers were on the scene, assisted by 400 soldiers called in as reinforcements, according to officials.
The metropolis of 300,000 people, located 68 kilometres (42 miles) north of Rio, has declared a “state of calamity.”
Three days of mourning have been announced by the city council for the victims.
Tourists seeking a break from the sweltering heat of Rio de Janeiro flock to Petropolis.
The neighbourhood is famed for its leafy avenues, elegant residences, the imperial palace – now a museum – and the surrounding mountains’ natural splendour.
The mayor’s office claimed Tuesday’s storms poured 258 millimetres (10 inches) of rain on the city in three hours, virtually equaling the total rainfall for the previous month.
The heaviest rain had passed, but experts predicted that more moderate rain would continue on and off for several days.
On his way to Russia for an official visit, President Jair Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter that he was following up with the “tragedy.”
After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he told him, “Thank you for your words of support with the people of Petropolis.”
“May God comfort the families of the victims.”
Since December, Brazil has been ravaged by severe rains that have resulted in a series of devastating floods and landslides.
Rainy season downpours are being exacerbated by La Nina – the Pacific Ocean’s cyclical cooling – and the influence of climate change, according to experts.
Global warming raises the danger and intensity of flooding from intense rainfall because a warmer atmosphere contains more water.
Last month, severe rains prompted floods and landslides in southern Brazil, killing at least 28 people, largely in the state of Sao Paulo.
Heavy rains have also been falling in the northeastern state of Bahia, which claimed the lives of 24 people in December.
In January 2011, strong storms devastated Petropolis and the surrounding region, killing over 900 people due to flooding and landslides.
