At least 136 killed in storms north of Rio de Janeiro (Update 9)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The death toll rose to 136 from heavy rains and mudslides in Petrópolis in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, authorities said Friday.

It added that some 500 firefighters and other rescue workers were at the scene in the hill town of Petrópolis, 68 km north of the city of Rio.

The City hall declared a “state of disaster” as images spread on social media of destroyed houses and cars swept away by floodwater.

Many shops were completely inundated by the rising waters which gushed down the streets of the historic city center.

Some parts of Petrópolis recorded up to 260 millimeters of water in less than 6 hours, more than expected for the whole month of February, according to the meteorological agency METSUL.

President Jair Bolsonaro, on an official trip to Russia, said on Twitter that he was monitoring “the tragedy” and asked his Ministers to provide “immediate aid to the victims.”

In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Rio de Janeiro governor Cláudio Castro said that 21 people had been rescued alive until then.

With the accumulated mud and garbage washed away by the floodwaters, several downtown areas are blocked. People from other regions are advised to avoid the city. Public school classes have been suspended.

With more heavy rain forecast, residents of several neighborhoods in the devastated Brazilian city were called to evacuate Thursday, just two days after flash floods and landslides killed 136 people.

The new rainfall comes with 213 still reported missing in the city, and as the first funerals of identified victims took place.

A total of 24 people have been rescued, while 967 were housed in shelters.

Some 500 firefighters, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, dogs, bulldozers and dozens of aircraft participated in the rescue.

Earlier this month, floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall killed at least 28 people in the southeast of the country, mostly in São Paulo state and the region north of Rio.

In January 2011, over 900 people died in the mountainous region of Rio due to heavy rains that caused flooding and landslides in a large area including Petrópolis and neighboring cities Nova Friburgo and Teresópolis.

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