Brazil Mudslide Worst In Series Of South American Weather Disasters

The brown scars on this hillside in Brazil are where
mudslides swept homes and people this week 
in and around the city of Petropolis. 

 Large swaths of South America have had record heat waves, floods and storms this year, and the worst one of all, so far at least, hit this week.  

Massive mudslides amid torrential rains have killed at least 104 people, and that toll is almost guaranteed to rise, unfortunately.

Most of the deaths and destruction were in a touristy Brazilian city called Petropolis, very near Rio De Janeiro. Some videos are near the bottom of this post 

Photos showed huge long brown scars down steep hillsides around Petropolis each of the scars being mudslides that obliterated homes and trees. 

 From CNBC:

"Footage posted on social media 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, out of sight." 

From Washington Post: 

"Emergency responders have rescued 24 people, officials said, and at least 400 have been left homeless. Authorities do not know how many remain missing, and they have called in heavy machinery to help dig through the rubble."

 This part of Brazil is vulnerable to floods and mudslides. A similar disaster in the same region killed about 900 people eleven years ago.

The closing days of 2021 and the start of 2022 have been particularly trying for many parts of South America. 

As the Washington Post points out, landslides in two Brazilian states caused 40 deaths in January. That came just weeks after another flood elsewhere in Brazil killed 21 people.  

In January, Argentina wilted amid record heat.  At the end of January, Ecuador suffered flooding and mudslides that killed at least 24 people and left others missing. 

Videos: If you don't see the video displayed below, click on the hyperlink in each introduction to view. 

Bloomberg collected this footage of hillsides collapsing and rushing water racing between buildings, taking cars and much other debris with it. 

This Brazilian news report captures glimpses of how extreme these floods and mudslides were:

This next one is terrifying, distressing and sad.  People trying to escape from two sinking buses. It doesn't look like everyone made it: