MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: Death toll at Petropolis reaches 80

“It's almost a war situation,” Governor Castro e Silva said

Rio de Janeiro authorities Wednesday spoke of at least 80 casualties as relief work continued following Tuesday's mudslides and floods in the Petropolis area.

It is yet to be determined how many people are missing, while hundreds were evacuated from their homes and taken to taken to safer places.

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“It's almost a war situation,” said Rio de Janeiro Governor Cláudio Bomfim de Castro e Silva.

The search for victims continued Wednesday due to the possibility that many more people were under the mud or the houses destroyed in “difficult access areas” as a result of the “instability of the ground,” according to Castro.

Several bodies were found Tuesday evening in the streets of Petropolis, particularly on Rua Teresa, the city's main shopping lane.

Fire Department Colonel Leandro Monteiro explained that one of the hardets area for rescuers to do their job was the Morro da Oficina mountainous sector, where an avalanche of stone and mud had destroyed several homes.

The newspaper O Día also reported there were several children with hypothermia, as pupils from a school in the Alto da Serra neighborhood were evacuated to a primary care health post when the mudslides began. The Mayor's Office decreed a state of public calamity and announced the suspension of school activities this Wednesday.

Over 200 millimeters of rain fell in five hours, which is more than the usual rainfalls for the entire month of February. It was also raining Wednesday, albeit less intensively, it was reported.

Castro also ordered some of the State Government agencies set their situation headquarters in Petropolis “to support the population in whatever is necessary.”

Parts of the city were still without power and there were some neighborhoods were still hard to access, it was reported.

A 2011 storm has also caused landslides and floods in Petropolis, leaving some 900 dead.

Last month, heavy rains hit the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Espiritu Santo, in the southeastern region, with several dozen people also killed.

Petrópolis is 68 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro and hosts the summer palace of the former Brazilian imperial family, now the Brazilian Imperial Museum.