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More than 120 people are missing from Brazil floods

South America

Last week's rainfall in Petropolis was the heaviest in almost a century.

More than 120 people are missing from Brazil floods

Search and cleanup continues in the Brazilian city of Petropolis, five days after flash floods and landslides killed at least 171 people.

According to officials, at least 27 children and teenagers were among the victims, with more than 120 missing.

Repeated downpours have hampered the work of emergency crews and authorities have said it is unlikely that anyone will be found alive. About 900 people are housed in schools and shelters.

Precipitation this week in Petropolis was the heaviest in nearly a century.

On Tuesday, downpours exceeded the average for all of February, causing landslides and flooding in a city north of Rio and turning the streets into rivers of mud. Houses were flooded and cars were carried away.

Workers dig rubble and manure with shovels and shovels, and groups of volunteers help in their efforts.

The search is conducted with hand tools and chainsaws in unstable areas, with 41 sniffer dogs helping the teams.

"It's impossible to bring heavy equipment here," Roberto Amaral, coordinator of the local fire department's special rescue team, told the AFP news agency. “So we basically have to work like ants, moving forward little by little.”

In one of the worst affected areas, up to 80 houses on a hillside were damaged by landslides.

Massive cleanup work on Sunday removed more than 300 vehicles that were swept away by flooding as the city, a popular tourist resort north of Rio de Janeiro, tries to reopen for business.

"We need to clean up our streets so we can speed up the rebuilding of our city," Mayor Rubens Bomtempo said.

Precipitation on Tuesday exceeded the average for all of February, causing landslides and flooding. President Jair Bolsonaro, who flew over the disaster area on Friday, said the city was suffering from "tremendous destruction, similar to war scenes."


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