Rescuers and volunteers desperately searched Thursday for those missing due to torrential rains that have already left 104 dead in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis while time is running out and there is a risk of new landslides and precipitation.
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The neighbors continued to search through the mud for the disappeared by the fast-flowing rivers that last Tuesday dragged everything as they passed and left a trail of destruction in that ancient imperial city of Petrópolis, north of Rio de Janeiro, which recorded its worst rains in 90 years.
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“Unfortunately it will be difficult to find someone alive. As everything is, it is practically impossible, but at least (you have to) deliver the bodies so that the family can bury them and find peace, “he explained to the AFP Luciano Gonçalves, a 26-year-old volunteer, covered in mud, rummaging through the mud with a shovel and hoe in his hands.
Another neighbor, Anderson Mota Barreiros, 37, was hastily digging for his sister, lamenting the lack of help. “There’s nothing, I’ve been here since five in the morning. I’m not seeing firefighters to help me, but we won’t give up, we’ll continue,” he promised.
According to authorities, some 500 firefighters resumed rescue work at dawn, after stopping briefly overnight due to unstable ground. Others who lost their relatives in the almost 300 landslides remained sitting in front of their houses with their eyes lost among so much destruction.
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A rescuer carried a dog in his arms that he had rescued from a mountain of rubble under which, according to him, his masters were. For now there are 104 confirmed dead and 24 rescued, while the figures of missing are confusing, due to the few identified bodies (33).
The Civil Police affirms that until this Thursday there were “134 records of disappearance”. The Public Ministry told AFP that 35 are still registered in its people location service.
Those who end up having to live in these risk regions are the most vulnerable, those who are most exposed to this type of situation.
The situation threatens to worsen in the coming hours. The Brazilian government warned on Wednesday of a “very high” risk of new landslides in the mountainous region of Rio, “especially in Petrópolis”, due to the forecast of more rains for the next few days that could cause new “floods”.
Civil Defense also warned this Thursday that “heavy rains are forecast for the afternoon and evening”which can further complicate rescue tasks, in which dogs, bulldozers, trucks, boats and a dozen aircraft are used.
According to experts, the tragedy is the result of a combination of factors, including excessive rains, the topography of the region and the existence of large neighborhoods of precarious houses, many of them built illegally, in the steep areas of risk.
“And that without counting that we are experiencing an economic crisis as a result of the pandemic that made everything worse, because the number of people who left areas that were not at risk to settle in risk areas has undoubtedly increased,” said the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro.
Some points in Petrópolis received up to 260 millimeters of rain in less than six hours, a volume higher than the historical average for all of February (240 mm), according to the MetSul meteorological agency.
Brazil has experienced episodes of intense rains in the last three months, especially in the states of Bahia (northeast) and Minas Gerais (southeast), which have left dozens dead and caused damage to hundreds of municipalities. Scientists argue that due to climate change, extreme weather events will become more and more frequent.
In January 2011, more than 900 people died in the mountainous region of the state of Rio due to heavy rains.which caused flooding and landslides in a vast area, including Petrópolis and its neighbors Nova Friburgo, Itaipava and Teresópolis.
Petrópolis, with 300,000 inhabitants, is a tourist city due to its historical value, the surrounding nature and a more pleasant climate compared to coastal Rio de Janeiro, due to its height.
AFP
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