The authorities have found 186 bodies, including those of 33 children, and 69 people are still missing.
Le Monde with AFP
One week after the violent thunderstorms who devastated the Brazilian city of Petropolis, the balance sheet amounted, Tuesday, February 22, at 186 dead, while the research of dozens of disappeared continued.
From the floods and landslides caused by the torrential rains of February 15, the rescuers found the bodies of “113 women and 73 men,” said the local police, stating that among them, “33 victims were Children “.
According to the police, 69 people are still missing, a figure that has decreased in recent days, as the bodies have been identified or families have found loved ones and sources. Moreover, more than 800 people who had to leave their homes in risk areas were still housed in emergency reception structures, Tuesday.
A series of deadly rains
A day a day ago, it rained in a few hours in the evening more than the average of February in this tourist city of 300,000 inhabitants located 60 km north of Rio de Janeiro (South- East).
The landslides have destroyed dozens of dwells built on a hillside and the floods broke out the bed of the rivers, tearing trees, flipping vehicles and covering the streets of a thick layer of mud.
In the last three months, Brazil has been touched by other deadly rains that have made dozens of deaths, particularly in the states of Bahia (Northeast) and Minas Gerais (South-East). According to specialists, these extreme weather events are becoming more common because of climate change.