State of alert after floods, mudslides

Press, 10 February 1988, Page 11

State of alert after floods, mudslides

NZPA-Reuter Rio De Janeiro The Rio de Janeiro state, ravaged by flooding and huge mudslides that have killed at least 155 people, is in a state of alert to guard against any new disasters, the state’s governor said yesterday. Governor Wellington Moreira Franco said the alert would last until March 31, the estimated end of the danger period for summer storms. Brazil gets its heaviest rainfall during the summer months of December, January and February. “The Civil Defence services of the state will be ready to combat floods and landslides. Emergency radio and phone systems will be available day and night to deal with relief and rescue measures,” he said in a radio interview. At least 155 people have been killed in the hillside resort town of Petropolis and in greater Rio de Janeiro, especially the poor suburban regions, in mudslides and floods spawned by torrential rains over the last week. In Petropolis alone, rescue teams have

recovered 128 bodies from collapsed houses and swollen rivers, the Civil Defence reported, and another 548 people were injured. In greater Rio, 27 people have died as a result of the rains. The mayor of Petropolis, a city in the hills above Rio de Janeiro founded as an elegant summer resort in 1843, said the death toll could go much higher. “We’ve decided to stop counting the dead, but according to pessimistic estimates there may be over 300,” Paulo Rattes said on radio. At least six separate mudslides destroyed countless buildings and left more than 1800 of the city’s 150,000 residents homeless. Mr Rattes, who described the mudslides as the greatest catastrophe to hit Petropolis, said that it would take at least 10 days to remove about 60,000 tonnes of mud and debris obstructing many streets of the city. The entire force of 400 street cleaners is on the job. Many villages dependent on Petropolis for food are partially cut off because of weakened bridges.