Sylvie Claire / February 22, 2022
Since the floods and landslides caused by the torrential rains of February 15 in Petropolis, Brazil, rescuers have found the bodies of 113 women and 73 men, announced the local police, specifying 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 bodies have been identified or families have found their loved ones safe and sound.
In addition, more than 800 people who had to leave their homes located in areas at risk were still being housed in emergency shelters on Tuesday. One week ago to the day, it rained in a few hours in the evening more than the average of the month of February in this tourist city of 300.000 inhabitants located at 60 km in the north of Rio de Janeiro (southeast).
The landslides destroyed dozens of homes built on hillsides and the flooding caused rivers to overflow their banks, uprooting trees, overturning vehicles and covering the streets with a thick layer of mud. In the past three months, Brazil has been hit by other deadly rains that have killed dozens of people, particularly in the northeastern state of Bahia and the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. According to specialists, these extreme weather phenomena are becoming more frequent due to climate change.