The death toll from devastating landslides and floods in a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state has reached 78, Governor Claudio Castro said Wednesday afternoon.
Tuesday’s floods ravaged the city of Petropolis, and Castro said nearly 400 people were left homeless. Searchers pulled through the rubble throughout the day and 21 people were found alive.
Citizens joined the official recovery efforts. Among them were Priscilla Neves and her siblings, who looked in the mud for any signs of their missing parents, but found only clothes. Neves told The Associated Press that he had given up hope of finding his parents alive.
And Rosaline Virgilio, 49, had tears in her eyes as she recounted the desperate pleas of someone she couldn’t save.
“A woman was shouting, ‘Help! Get me out of here!’ But we couldn’t do anything; the water was pouring out, the mud was pouring out,” Virgilio told the Associated Press. “Our city, unfortunately, is exhausted.”
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Petropolis is a German-influenced city named after a former emperor of Brazil. Nestled in the mountains above a coastal metropolis, for nearly two centuries it has been a haven for people escaping the summer heat and for tourists wishing to explore the so-called “royal city”.
Petropolis was one of the first planned cities in the country and has stately homes along its waterways. But its population has grown randomly, climbing mountains now covered with small habitats. Many are in areas that are unsuitable for structures and are more vulnerable to deforestation and inadequate drainage.
The stricken mountain region has seen similar devastation in recent decades, including more than 900 deaths. In the years that followed, Petropolis presented a plan to reduce the risk of landslides, but work progressed only slowly.
The governor had earlier told reporters that the situation was “almost war-like” and that he was mobilizing all the heavy machinery of the state government to help excavate the burial area.
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The state fire department said late Tuesday night that the area received 25.8 centimeters (just over 10 inches) of rain within three hours – nearly the same as during the past 30 days combined. The Civil Protection Authority of Petropolis said moderate rain is expected on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Videos posted on social media on Tuesday showed cars and homes being dragged by landslides and water swirling in Petropolis and neighboring districts. On Wednesday, homes were buried under mud, while appliances and cars were piled on the streets, where they were swept away the night before. Some people tried to escape from the dangerous hills.
“The neighbors came running downstairs and I sheltered them,” said 39-year-old bar owner Emerson Torrey.
But his roof collapsed in the strong current of water. He managed to get his mother and three others out of the bar in time, but a neighbor and the man’s daughter did not survive.
“It was like an avalanche, it fell all at once. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Torrey told the AP as rescue helicopters went overhead. “Every neighbor has lost a loved one, the same one. Two, three, four members of the family, children are lost.”
Three days of mourning has been declared at the City Hall of Petropolis. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro expressed solidarity during his visit to Russia, as did his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“May God rest his family members,” Bolsonaro said at a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
Southeastern Brazil has been punished with heavy rain since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths between incidents in the state of Minas Gerais in early January and the state of So Paulo at the end of the same month.
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