Video: Powerful Storm Claims Lives in Brazil

 A powerful storm has claimed at least nine lives in southeastern Brazil, particularly in the mountainous part of Rio de Janeiro state, where authorities on Saturday deployed rescue teams to deal with a “critical” situation.Images on local media showed rivers of water, mud and debris rushing down slopes in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, where memories remain fresh of a catastrophic storm in February 2022 that claimed 241 lives. The latest storm dropped 270 millimeters (11 inches) of rain in just 24 hours, the Rio government said.

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The National Institute of Meteorology had predicted a severe storm, particularly in Rio, with rainfall of 200mm a day from Friday through Sunday — more than the 141mm the area normally receives in all of March. Rio authorities had declared an administrative holiday on Friday as the storm approached and urged people to stay home. The storm also left thousands of homes across Rio without electricity.