At the least 34 folks died after heavy rain hit Petropolis, a metropolis within the mountainous area of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, native authorities mentioned on Wednesday (February 16)
Metropolis streets had been flooded by downpours, whereas landslides additionally resulted in fatalities.
Retailers cleaned their flooded and broken retailers.
“It arrived unexpectedly, it began flooding step by step..it was very tough,” mentioned a service provider, Henrique Pereira.
“We misplaced every thing,” mentioned one other service provider, Regiane Dias.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who’s touring to Russia, mentioned on Twitter he had requested ministers to assist the town and the victims of the storm. Rio de Janeiro’s Governor Claudio Castro visited Petropolis on Tuesday (February 15) evening.
“We’re in Petropolis articulating all the assistance wanted at the moment,” Castro wrote on his Twitter account, including in a video assertion that he would solely depart the town when the response to the catastrophe had been organised.
From Moscow, the place he’ll meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Bolsonaro mentioned he had spoken with the Regional Growth Minister Rogerio Marinho and Financial system Minister Paulo Guedes to safe help to the town.
Since December, heavy rains have triggered lethal floods and landslides in northeast Brazil and Sao Paulo state, threatened to delay harvests within the midwest and briefly pressured the suspension of mining operations within the state of Minas Gerais.
(Reuters)