Brazil: deaths reported due to new heavy rains in Petrópolis

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least five people died, and four others are still missing due to heavy rains on March 20 in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro State, where a month ago, 233 of its inhabitants lost their lives due to the same cause, authorities reported on Monday, March 21.

The most recent bulletin of the Civil Defense and the Fire Brigade of the state of Rio de Janeiro released in the early hours of Monday morning indicated that 95 landslides and floods were recorded in the city located in the mountainous region.

The teams of the relief agencies are mobilized in the region to find four people reported as missing and with fear that the situation could worsen since the weather forecast of more rains was maintained until the dawn of March 22.

The new tragedy occurred 34 days after the rains left 233 deaths due to the strong storm of February 15 in this mountainous city of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Among the deaths were 44 children, and the storm also left 1,000 people homeless, while firefighting teams are still searching for four missing persons.

Petrópolis, located just an hour and a half from the city of Rio de Janeiro, is known as the Imperial City because it was one of the favorite places of Emperor Dom Pedro I when Brazil gained independence from the Portuguese crown.

In 2011, in the neighboring cities of Teresópolis and Nova Friburgo, a tragedy of major proportions caused by summer rains left 918 people dead in the same region. These rains usually occur in the late afternoon on extremely hot days and are always accompanied by thunderstorms.