Brazil was hit in this rainy season by particularly severe rainfall.
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Within hours, the picturesque town received more rain than in a typical month of February. At least 44 people have died following heavy rains that caused landslides and floods in the Brazilian tourist city of Petropolis, the governorate of the state of Rio de Janeiro announced on Wednesday.
“So far, 44 dead have been confirmed, 21 people have been rescued”said the governorate in a mid-day press release, referring to “almost a war situation”, with a strong mobilization of relief, but without specifying the number of missing in the locality located 60 km from Rio (south-east). The last provisional official report on Tuesday evening reported 18 dead.
Brazil has been hit in this rainy season by particularly severe rainfall – also in the states of Bahia (northeast), Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo (southeast) – which experts have linked to global warming. With warming, the risk of heavy rainfall events increases, according to scientists. These rains, associated in particular in Brazil with an often wild urbanization, favor floods and deadly landslides.