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Mudslides in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro due to heavy rain, 14 dead

According to state and municipal authorities, heavy rains prompted mudslides that killed at least 14 people in Rio de Janeiro state’s southerncoastal cities and the Baixada Fluminense area on Saturday.

Rescuers responded to 850 calls in the last 24 hours and were able to get 144 individuals to safety in the impacted areas, according to state officials.

Over the last two weeks, Rio de Janeiro has been battered by terrible weather. Authorities announced on March 23 that 240 people were killed in February by landslides and flooding in the Petropolis district, which is located in the hills above Rio de Janeiro.

‘There are almost 70 homeless families in our community. For these folks, we are giving refuge and renting hostels,’ the mayor of Paraty, Luciano Vidal, told the media.

Mudslides, he claimed, had closed streets and isolated portions of the city, and entire neighbourhoods in the colonial coastal town, a tourist destination, were without power.

The rainfall average for six months was 322 millimetres (12.68 inches) on one day at Paraty. According to Vidal, at least seven people died there. Only five people were killed in Paraty, according to the civil defence statement.

As additional rain was anticipated, the town, a popular tourist attraction, issued a state of emergency.

According to the most recent state tally, at least six people died in nearby Angra dos Reis, another vacation spot affected by torrential rain.

 

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