Flood toll rises to 122 in Petropolis as heavy rains again feared

Petropolis overwhelmed by the elements. Three days after the violent storms which left at least 122 dead and dozens missing, the tourist city located not far from Rio de Janeiro is again on alert, Friday February 18, after forecasts of new heavy rains .

The number of missing in the floods and landslides remains unclear. The police announced a figure of 218 people. But she did not specify whether she counted in this total the bodies not yet identified or the people already found.

Sirens sounded Thursday evening and Friday morning, when heavy rains fell in at-risk areas of the city of 300,000 inhabitants. The rain then eased in the afternoon, but further heavy rain is expected in the evening, according to the Civil Defense.

More than 500 firefighters, with helicopters, diggers and sniffer dogs, remain mobilized to tirelessly search for the missing, while the hope of finding survivors among them is increasingly slim.

Hundreds of volunteers also went to lend a helping hand, including a large number of residents of neighborhoods devastated by the 400 or so landslides, forced to dig themselves to try to find relatives. The town hall also announced that it had removed more than 140 cars that had been overturned on the streets or washed into the city’s waterways.