The Rio de Janeiro State government has confirmed 94 deaths from floods and mudslides that swept away homes and vehicles in the city of Petropolis.
However, even as families prepared to bury their dead, it was unclear how many bodies remained trapped in the mud.
Rubens Bomtempo, mayor of the German-influenced city nestled in the mountains, did not even offer an estimate for the number of people missing, with recovery efforts still ongoing.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We don’t yet know the full scale of this,” Bomtempo told a news conference on Wednesday. “It was a hard day, a difficult day.”
More than 24 hours after the deadly deluge early on Tuesday, survivors were digging to find lost loved ones.
The Rio de Janeiro’s Public Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement on Wednesday that it had compiled a list of 35 people yet to be located.
Footage posted on social media showed torrents dragging vehicles and houses through the streets, and water swirling through the city.
One video showed two buses sinking into a swollen river as the passengers clambered out the windows, scrambling for safety.
Some did not make it to the banks and were washed away, out of sight.
On Wednesday morning, houses were left buried beneath mud, while appliances and vehicles were in piles on the streets.
Petropolis, named for a former Brazilian emperor, has been a refuge for people escaping the summer heat and tourists keen to explore the so-called “Imperial City.”
Its prosperity has also drawn people from Rio’s poorer regions.
Its population grew haphazardly, climbing mountainsides now covered with small residences packed tightly together. Many are in areas unfit for structures and made more vulnerable by deforestation and inadequate drainage.
The state fire department said that 25.8cm of rain fell within three hours on Tuesday — almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined.
Rio de Janeiro Governor Claudio Castro told a news conference that the rains were the worst Petropolis has received since 1932.
“No one could predict rain as hard as this,” Castro said.
More rain is expected through the rest of the week, weather forecasters said.
“I could only hear my brother yelling: ‘Help. Help. My God,’” resident Rosilene Virginia told reporters as a man comforted her. “It’s very sad to see people asking for help and having no way of helping, no way of doing anything. It’s desperate, a feeling of loss so great.”
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