After the devastating flash floods of this month, hundreds of residents in Petropolis, southeastern Brazil, were forced to flee their homes.
After additional bodies were discovered, authorities reported that the death toll from flash flooding and landslides this month near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has risen to 217. Many people are still displaced.
According to the latest statistics, 42 children were among the victims in the storm that slammed Petropolis on February 15th. This was nearly one-fifth as many deaths as the police reported on Friday.
Authorities reported that 33 people remain unaccounted, while the municipality reported nearly 900 Petropolis residents are still in emergency shelters after they were forced from their homes.
The deluge that poured several months worth of rain in a matter of hours on the southeastern Brazilian capital followed by the landslides.
The situation is almost similar to war. Cars are hanging from poles, cars are overturned, and there is still mud and water, Claudio Castro, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro, said to reporters the day following the storm.
Families that were forced to flee their homes by flooding and landslides have begun to apply for financial aid. Each family will receive approximately $195 (1,000 Brazilian Reals) per month to help them find new housing.
Nearly 900 Petropolis residents live in emergency shelters after being evacuated from their homes by flooding and landslides. [File: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters]Experts agree that climate change and neglect played a role in the tragic event.
Rain is the greatest villain, but poor land use is the main cause, Antonio Guerra, a geography professor from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, who has studied weather-related disasters in Petropolis, told The Associated Press earlier in the month. There is a complete lack of planning.
In recent decades, more than 1,500 people died in similar landslides in the Serra do Mar area. More than 400 people died in heavy storms in Petropolis since 1981.
In Brazil, 236 people have been killed by severe storms in the last three months.
Brazilian President Jairbolsonaro has pledged federal aid to rebuild and help residents of Petropolis after he surveyed the damage from the recent storm.