“For the moment, we have found five bodies,” said firefighters in the state of Rio de Janeiro (southeast), adding that four people were missing.
Videos circulating on social networks showed images of streets turning into torrents washing away everything in their path, like a month ago, when the worst tragedy in the history of this city located in a mountainous region, 60 km from Rio.
One of these videos shows, for example, that the floods washed away some of the 233 crosses that had been installed in a square in tribute to the victims of the February 15 tragedy.
Local authorities have warned that the episode of rains could last until Tuesday and the Civil Defense has maintained its alert for the high risk of landslides. Thirteen assistance centers have also been opened by the town hall, taking care of some 839 people.
The authorities of the state of Rio have set up a crisis unit, reinforced the fire brigades and increased the number of equipment intended for rescue, explained the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, on his Twitter account.
Extreme phenomena aggravated by climate change
The city, a tourist destination north of Rio de Janeiro, was swept away on February 15 by its worst recorded storm since 1932, which caused landslides and floods in popular neighborhoods built on the mountainside, killing 233 people. .
Separately, heavy rains that hit the entire state of Rio on Sunday killed two people in the seaside town of Angra dos Reis, where a tree fell on a vehicle
According to scientists, climate change is aggravating the frequency and intensity of these extreme phenomena.