Deadly mudslides bury Brazilian town

More than a hundred people are dead after a massive mudslide occurred amid heavy rains and flooding in Petropolis, a mountainous town 40 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. Government officials confirmed at least 117 fatalities, and 116 are still missing. Hundreds of residents are now homeless, and only 24 survivors had been found as of Thursday afternoon. Roughly 200 Rio police agents were visiting shelters and morgues to try to account for those missing. Houses were left buried beneath mud while appliances and cars were stacked in piles on the streets.

How bad was the storm? More than 10 inches of rain fell over Petropolis within three hours on Tuesday. Social media footage showed torrents dragging cars and houses through the streets and water swirling through the city. One video showed two buses sinking into a swollen river as its passengers clambered out the windows, scrambling for safety. Some didn’t make it to the banks and were washed away. Heavy rains have punished southeastern Brazil since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths recorded in other incidents in the region last month. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Jill Nelson report on the rise of evangelical revivals in Brazil on The World and Everything in It podcast.