On 15 February 2022, intense rainfall in

Petrópolis Petrópolis (), also known as the Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Petrópolis mun ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

caused

mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

s and

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing that destroyed parts of the city. At least 231 people died in the disaster.

Background

Petrópolis is a popular tourist city in Brazil, and as it expanded, its poorer residents built upon the nearby mountainsides. This led to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

and poor drainage in these areas of the city. From 2007 to 2010 geologists carried out a number of reports and landslide risk map for the Quitandinha district, and found the most vulnerable areas of the municipality. These findings should have been disseminated throughout Petropolis but, due to insufficient funding, this did not happen. Additionally, the local authorities of Petrópolis ordered a survey in 2017 and identified 15,240 houses with a high risk of being destroyed due to heavy rainfalls, which covered about 18% of the city. The city, however, was unable to act on this report. The (Cemaden) issued an alert on the magnitude of the storm two days before the floods on 15 February. According to specialists, the warning should have prompted the authorities to mobilize to evacuate the residents. Despite the intensity of the tragedy that would be drawn a few hours later, this alert was issued in a classification of "moderate risk of landslides".

Event

On February 15, 2022, the city of Petrópolis received an unusually high amount of rain within three hours, . This was more than the prior 30 days combined, and the worst the city had seen since 1932. According to Cemaden, of the rain recorded during that day, was recorded between 4:20pm and 7:20pm. The

climatological normal Climatological normal or climate normal (CN) is a 30-year average of a weather variable for a given time of year. The high level of precipitation caused flooding within the city as well as destabilized the mountainside, causing mudslides. Videos of the disaster were widely shared on social media, showing cars and houses being dragged by landslides. By February 21, the death toll reached 176, including at least 27 children and teenagers. As of February 28, the death toll has risen to 231, with 5 people still missing. This event is the deadliest flood and mudslide in Petrópolis' history, exceeding the 1988 event which left 171 dead.

Impacts

The damages from the floods and mudslides exceeded 1 billion

Brazilian real The Brazilian real (plural, pl. '; currency symbol, sign: R$; ISO 4217, code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real repl ...

s when considering reconstruction costs. The estimated loss is 665 million reals from the municipality's gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent to 2%, in data that considers only the direct impact. On top of that, over 78 million reals worth of goods were damaged.

Reactions

Brazil

Federal Government

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

, who was visiting

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and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, contacted the Minister of Regional Development and the Minister of Economy to help the victims, as well as talking to the governor of the state of Rio. According to his son, Flávio Bolsonaro, and later confirmed on his own social networks. Bolsonaro visited Petrópolis on 18 February. The

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

also announced a minimum contribution of R$2.3 million for the city. The

Caixa Econômica Federal The Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa or CEF, is a state-owned Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as ...

announced that it had opened a fund for the city. Caixa Econômica Federal said it had opened a branch on an emergency basis to assist victims in Petrópolis who need to withdraw their FGTS (Severance Indemnity Fund) funds. The Ministry of Health said that it had sent teams from the Unified Health System (SUS) to the region. It also donated 500kg of medicines for post-disaster care. In all, 32 types of medicine and medicines and 16 supplies were sent to Petrópolis. These medicines were used to prevent the proliferation of worms and viruses that are common after floods. It has also been estimated that 13 Basic Health Units (UBS), one Emergency Care Unit (UPA) and two other health services were damaged by the disaster.

Brazilian States

* : The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, announced on his social networks that he had mobilized more firefighters and ambulances. The governor also went to the most affected region of Petrópolis together with the Civil Defense and the president of the

Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro The Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro ( or ''ALERJ'') is the unicameral legislature of the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It has 70 state deputies elected by proportional representation. After the 1834 Additional Act, the Provincial As ...

, André Ceciliano, to analyze how to proceed after the disaster. The city hall of Petrópolis declared three days of mourning. * : Through the command of its governor João Dória, the government of São Paulo sent a team of four firefighters and two sniffer dogs, following a request made by the governor of Rio de Janeiro Cláudio Castro. In addition to the firefighters with rescue dogs, the

São Paulo state government The São Paulo State Government is based in the São Paulo, city of São Paulo and covers the São Paulo (state), state's administrative structure, as established by the Constitution of Brazil, Federal and Constitutions. It is composed of three ...

also made available the São Paulo State Military Police's Águia helicopters. * : The governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, had already made the Civil Defence and Fire Brigade available for the search in Petrópolis as soon as the catastrophe in the city was announced. Due to the complex logistics of getting to the region, the firefighters only arrived in the city on 20 February. The soldiers from Rio Grande do Sul were responsible for finding another family of gauchos who were buried under the rubble. The family had been missing after a house in the region collapsed and with the help of the rescue dogs of the Military Fire Brigade they were located, but unfortunately they were already lifeless.

= Brazilian Imperial Family

= The '' laudêmio'' issue refers to the tax paid by the population of Petrópolis to the heirs of Emperor Pedro II, which is collected by Companhia Imobiliária de Petrópolis, administered by ten heirs of the

House of Orléans-Braganza The House of Orléans-Braganza ( Portuguese: ''Casa de Orléans e Bragança'') is by legitimacy, the imperial house of Brazil formed in 1864, with the marriage of the heir to the Brazilian throne, Isabel of Braganza with Prince Gaston, Coun ...

, of the former Brazilian Imperial Family. Prince Bertrand Orléans-Braganza, a pretender to the imperial throne Brazil and Head of the Imperial Family, lamented the heavy rains that hit the city and denied on Twitter that his dynastic branch of family, known as the Vassouras Branch, receives funds from the ''laudêmio''. The special tax is fact received by those of the Petrópolis Branch, a fact that sparked criticism among the inhabitants of the city. In 2022 number of bills were tabled before the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

proposing the extinction of ''laudêmio'' in the municipality of Petrópolis. However as of 2023 this tax was still in force.

Foreign Countries

* : On 18 February,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

sent a message to the bishop of Petrópolis, Gregório Paixão Neto, in which he lamented and said he was praying for the victims of the tragedy. On 20 February, after the traditional Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square at the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, the pontiff spoke about the issue. * : On 21 February,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

sent a message of condolence to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro. The monarch declared her deep sadness at the destruction caused in the city.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petropolis floods, 2022 2020s floods in Brazil 2022 disasters in Brazil 2022 floods in South America Landslides in Brazil Landslides in 2022 2022 floods February 2022 in Brazil History of Rio de Janeiro (state)