More than 100 people have died in landslides and flash flooding in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis, officials say. The city, which is located in the mountains north of Rio de Janeiro, was hit by torrential rainfall. Houses in hillside neighborhoods were destroyed and cars swept away as floodwaters raced through the city's streets. Search and rescue teams are combing the mud for survivors. Ahead of more heavy rain, residents of several neighborhoods in Petropolis were called to evacuate Thursday, just two days after flash floods and landslides killed 117 people. Sirens warned neighborhoods in the hillside tourist town to leave, with residents still shocked from the rivers of mud that buried homes and swept away cars and trees. At least two streets were already closed after landslides containing "rocky blocks." Videos shared on social media showed extensive damage and vehicles floating in the streets. "The situation is almost like war... Cars hanging from poles, cars overturned, lots of mud and water still," Rio de Janeiro Governor Cláudio Castro told journalists. Residents here are holding out hope their loved ones can be found, but it's a complicated situation with so much mud and rubble to clear. People are watching and waiting patiently. The new rainfall comes with dozens still reported missing in the city, located some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro, and as the first funerals of identified victims took place. Text messages warned residents to take refuge at relatives' homes or in public shelters "due to the volume of rain affecting the city, which will continue, with an intensity between moderate to strong, in the next few hours," the local Civil Defense said. "You can see how the mudslide came crashing down through this hillside neighborhood, wiping out everything in its path and creating a valley of mud, rubble and mangled wires. When we arrived there was a family in floods of tears, with a shovel in hand, trying to find where their loved one was," said one resident. Petrópolis is a popular tourist destination in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, which used to be the summer getaway for Brazil's monarchs in the 19th Century. But after a month's worth of rain fell on the city in just three hours — the heaviest rainfall since 1932, according to Governor Castro — much of its regal charm lay in ruins, with homes and shops destroyed by the flooding. "The water came very fast and with great force. My loss was 100%. Our life was already tough with the pandemic... and this tragedy still comes," shopkeeper Henrique Pereira told Reuters news agency. "I feel scared when I see that it's raining again, because the ground is still soaked," said 45-year-old Petropolis resident Rodne Montesso, whose house was not at risk from the latest rains. Around 300 people are being housed in schools and shelters, and charities are calling for donations of mattresses, food, clothing and facemasks. It is the latest in a series of heavy rains to hit Brazil in the past three months, which scientists say are being made worse by climate change. The "historic tragedy" was made worse, Castro said, by "deficits" in urban planning and housing infrastructure. The effects of uncontrolled urban expansion, said meteorologist Estael Sias, hit the poor hardest when disaster strikes. "Those who live in these regions at risk are the most vulnerable," he said. Petrópolis and the surrounding region were previously hit by severe storms in January 2011, when more than 900 people died in flooding and landslides. — Agencies
