Search resumes for missing as toll hits 102 in Brazil rains

Rio de Janeiro, April 8 (IANS/EFE) The search has resumed for those reported missing in the torrential rains that hit Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, killing 102 people and injuring 106 others, with scattered showers complicating rescue operations, the fire department said.

All rescue teams returned to the field at first light Wednesday and focussed on the hardest-hit areas.

The search for the missing is focusing on Niteroi, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, which was hit by mudslides triggered by the torrential rains.

Dozens of dwellings were buried in Niteroi, leaving 47 people missing.

The rain continued to fall during the night, but Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said the situation had improved even though many streets were still flooded or blocked by mudslides.

Schools and universities remained closed Wednesday for a second day.

The mayor, who had urged people to stay home Tuesday, said those who needed to go out should do so as long as they used caution.

“Our main concern continues to be the possibility of mudslides in high-risk areas. We remain on high alert and continue to ask those who live in those areas to seek shelter in the homes of relatives or in shelters established by the municipal government,” Paes said.

The vast majority of the dead perished in rain-driven mudslides that buried dwellings in the region’s numerous hillside “favelas”, or shantytowns.

The torrential downpours Monday and Tuesday were the worst to hit Brazil’s second-largest city in 40 years, with meteorologists saying that the amount of rain that fell over the first 12 hours of the storm was nearly double the precipitation that Rio normally receives in the entire month of April.

The rainstorm caused massive traffic jams in Rio de Janeiro.

Traffic came to a standstill in different sections of the city as streets turned into rivers, covering automobiles.

Many neighbourhoods in northern and southern Rio de Janeiro were cut off and left without electricity.

Officials Tuesday closed down some of the tunnels that link different parts of the city, as well as the 14-km bridge that connects Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi.

–IANS/EFE